The Titan of Three Kings
by Paddy765
Summary: When Naruto Uzumaki is saved one night by a sword wielding stranger his whole life is turned upside down. New powers, new friends and new possibilities await young Naruto, but not necessarily in his own world. Read on as he goes from orphan to titan among men. (abandoned due to loss of inspiration)
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: hello again people of the fanfiction world, for those of you who read my two previous stories, I am sorry I never finished them but I got completely stuck on how to continue them and in all honesty I didn't particularly like how they were going so far so I've decided to start over again with a new story that I hope you will enjoy, it's a Naruto x Fairytail story and I'm hoping it will go well, I will be using Japanese honorifics in this and hope that I get them right, please enjoy this story and please remember to review :)**

 **The Titan of Three Kings**

 **Summary**

 **When Naruto Uzumaki is saved one night by a sword wielding stranger his whole life is turned upside down. New powers, new friends and new possibilities await young Naruto, but not necessarily in his own world. Read on as he goes from orphan to titan among men.**

 **Chapter 1**

 **Times must change**

Within the dark recesses of the village known as Konohagakure, a small blond haired, blue eyed child with distinctive whisker like marks on his cheeks, was racing through the alley ways and empty lots of Konohas residential district. Behind him, a mob of angry civilian men, all drunk from a night of partying, were giving chase shouting things like _"kill the demon brat"_ and _"finish what the fourth started"_. All the while the boy could only run as fast as his little legs could carry him, tears dripping onto his ragged and dirty clothes. ' _why?'_ he thought to himself ' _what did I ever do to them?'_

Turning a corner, the boy never saw the older man in front of him who was currently emptying a sack of house hold rubbish into one of the alleys large rubbish bins and so proceeded into running headlong into the man's left leg, falling to the ground in the process.

The man barely even felt the contact through his blue and white traditional robes and so turned towards the young child with a questioning gaze before lifting his head to glare at the drunk mob who had just rounded the corner and come to a sudden hault upon seeing the man before them. The leader of the group, a man in his early twenties with long brown hair that reached his shoulders and a broken sake bottle in his hands, stepped towards the pair and addressed the man before him.

"thanks for stopping the demon for us, I was beginning to think we'd never catch up"

The sickening look the man gave in the direction of the child, who was currently crawling backwards towards the alley wall trying to find any space possible to escape, disturbed the older man to no end as did the term he used for the child himself.

"may I ask what you intend to do with the child?" he asked, his voice giving of an aura of power only attained by the most hardened of warriors.

The leader of the group looked at him as if the answer was obvious before saying with a chuckle "why we intend to get rid of it, the mere fact that it is alive is an insult to all those it killed six years ago" he face hardened into a look of pure disgust as he finished his sentence.

The older man's stoic face didn't betray any emotion, although on the inside a river of rage flooded through his veins.

' _how could they do this to a child?'_ he took a few steps forward placing himself between the men and the child taking on a defensive stance with his right hand resting on the hilt of a katana strapped to his left hip alongside its shorter partner blade, a wakizashi.

"have you no honor?" he said, his voice even and without emotion.

The group of men looked at him confused before the leader let out a full blown laugh that was soon echoed by the rest of the men behind him.

"I don't think you realize just who your protecting old man"

The older man slowly drew his sword out in front of him, its blade pointed skyward with both hands on its hilt, the left hands behind the right.

"I know exactly who this child is, I owed his father a life debt before he passed on, until now I thought he too had passed away"

"pah! We all know a demon has no parents, he's just a creation sent from hell to pillage and destroy the innocent lives of the people of this world!"

The leader and his group began taking steps towards the pair, each member brandishing some kind of makeshift weapon in their hands.

"now I'm only gonna say this once old man, give us the brat!"

His stance only stood more assured at the task he would have to complete.

"I'm afraid I can't do that; it would go against everything I stand for"

With nothing more to say, the group of men charged the old man, intent on ending his life as well as the child in his protection. The first man to attack was the leader of the group, he brought his broken bottle into the air above his head before bringing it down in a downward slash aimed at the older man's head. Side stepping the attack the man brought the hilt of his sword down onto the back of the thug's head knocking him to the ground unconscious. The older man flipped his sword into a reverse grip in his right hand before two more men got within striking distance but were also knocked away be a few quick jabs of the man's hilt, connecting to one man's gut and the other man's chin sending them both spiraling into the only two thugs left standing leaving them in a groaning heap.

While all this happened the young blonde boy sat in awe of the swordsman's grace and finesse while he dodged and maneuvered around each attack like a dancer on a stage. Not one attack hit him and not one man was left standing whenever he chose to strike.

' _that old guys amazing!'_

Once the fighting was done and the dust had cleared only the older man was left standing. Sheathing his blade, he bent down and proceeded to check the drunken men for a pulse before nodding his head in confirmation, they were alive… for now.

Turning his attention away from the group he made his way over to the young blond who sat shivering against the wall, eyes wide and filled with fear. A look of deep regret and understanding swept across the older man's features. He now realized just what kind of life the boy had lead. One filled with fear and abuse of such heartbreaking proportion that it left a boiling mass of hatred and pure rage aimed towards the men and even some women of the village, although fewer than men as most women could not bring themselves to harm a child no matter their beliefs.

The young boy, who could see the mass of rage hidden behind the man's deep green eyes, began to cower even further away, believing that such a hatred was aimed towards him and that he would be the next to receive a beating from the older man.

The man, seeing this, kneeled before the boy before gently placing a hand on his right shoulder, giving him a calm, disarming smile that settled the boy down, if only slightly.

"what is your name child?" he asked, although he already knew his name as he had been informed by the boy's father of it before he passed, he wanted to first earn his trust before revealing to him the friendship between himself and his father.

"I… I'm Naruto Uzumaki" the boy paused for a second, first taking in the older man's appearance. The man wore a blue Haori top and white Hakama bottoms. His hair was long and dark brown tide into a knot at the back of his head. Deep green eyes stared back at him curiously but with a warm sense of compassion and years of experience and painful memories. Two swords were strapped to his side, a long katana sheathed inside a black and gold trimmed sheath, its handle strapped in a black leather and the guard a deep blue metal. Its companion blade was a shorter wakizashi, designed in the same way as the katana. Finally, a long scar was present on the right hand side of his face, running from his forehead down to his jaw, though thin and aged it was still noticeable. With steadily growing confidence, Naruto asked his name.

"who are you?"

The older man smiled slightly, leaving Naruto with a sense of comfort before replying.

"my name is Arata Akiyama, I am a samurai from the land of iron, visiting the grave of an old friend whilst staying in one the Hokages guest houses"

' _a samurai? What's a samurai? Old man Hokage never mentioned one before'_

"umm Arata-san… what's a samurai?"

The now identified Arata chuckled slightly before standing and offering his hand to the young boy.

"why don't we go inside where its warm and maybe I can tell you all about us"

Although still unsure if he could trust the man, like any child his age he was beyond curious at the thought of learning something new.

"but what about them?" he said, waving his hand towards the groaning pile of men.

"oh I'm sure the Anbu who have been watching us can deal with it" and sure enough a squad of Anbu flashed into existence. A dog masked Anbu with gravity defying silver hair stepped forward and bowed slightly to Arata.

"thank-you for your assistance in dealing with the mob samurai-san, we were on our way to deal with the problem but were unfortunately delayed"

Arata's eyebrow quirked slightly but that was the only sign of his skepticism, he had numerous dealings with Anbu and new just how good they were at their job, so the idea of a full squad being delayed when a child's life was in danger raised a few questions.

"and prey tell what could be so important that a full squad of professional Anbu were delayed long enough that a mob of angry drunks almost murdered an innocent child?"

The Anbu immediately straightened and if not for his mask one would see that his only uncovered eye was literally glaring at the samurai and in a curt manner, answered.

"if you are suggesting that we purposely delayed ourselves in order for the men to get a chance at the child then you are surely mistaken, I have personally done my best over the years to protect him and while I am captain of my squad we will **never** turn our backs on him"

Although most of the Anbu squad flinched slightly at the killer intent that leaked into his words, the samurai never moved an inch, instead, he smiled slightly and nodded his head.

"I'm glad to hear it Anbu-san, it's good to know that there are people out there that can tell the difference between a scroll and a kunai"

The Anbu's posture relaxed again and he turned towards the blond child hiding behind Arata's legs.

"are you ok Naruto? They didn't hurt you did they?"

Naruto stepped from behind Arata's legs with a smile gracing his face that they had all come to love.

"yeah I'm fine Inu-san, Arata-san saved me and beat those guys up real good" the group of men smiled at his exuberance and proceeded to hog-tie the unconscious men before disappearing into the night.

Before the silver haired Anbu left he turned towards Arata and in a serious voice said,

"I believe you should go to the Hokage with Naruto, he will want to see that the boy is unharmed, if you like I can escort you?"

"I believe that would be a good idea, I have much to discuss with the Hokage concerning our blond friend here"

The Anbu nodded before placing both his hands on Naruto's and Arata's shoulders before they disappeared in a gust of wind and leafs.

 **Hokages office, same time.**

Within the office of Konohas most powerful shinobi, Hiruzen Sarutobi, the man himself, sat behind his desk, his pipe lit and an angry scowl upon his face. He had sent his top Anbu team to check in on his surrogate grandson almost ten minutes ago and they had yet to arrive with a report. Just before he decided to check on him himself, three figures appeared in his room in a cloud of white smoke. One was the captain of the team he had sent and one was the very boy he had been worried about, however, it was the third figure that intrigued the Hokage the most. He knew the man only for a couple of days as he had arrived under the pretext of visiting a friends grave that resided within Konoha itself. So why was he here with Naruto? Hiruzen pushed aside his thoughts in favor of checking on the status of one of his most important people. With a smile the old man centered his gaze on the child.

"ah Naruto, how are you tonight?"

Once Naruto realized where he was and who he was in front of, he smiled brightly before bounding over to the Hokage and leapt into his arms causing the old man to grunt in surprise.

"Jii-san!"

The men in the room let out an amused chuckle whist the Hokage set Naruto down on his lap.

"how are you Naruto?"

The brightness in the boys eyes almost instantly vanished before it was replaced again with what was obviously, at least to the others in the room, a fake smile.

"I'm ok Jii-san, never better!"

The Hokage let out a sigh, no matter what happened to the boy he would always think of others first and slap on that annoyingly well used fake smile. No matter the harm that was done to him, no matter the pain he would always think of others first and it took all the old man had not to break apart whenever he saw it. when life would crash down on him, when people would shun and glare at him, when the world itself would turn against him… he would fight through it. subconsciously the old man's arms tightened around the young boy, almost out of fear of him disappearing forever. Why did such an amazing young boy have to deal with such a burden that he wasn't even aware of? That's when it hit him… he didn't have to deal with it… not alone anyway, after all what's the use in being the most powerful man in the village if he couldn't even protect one young child with the burden that no man could ever cope with? With that thought in mind the Hokage of the hidden leaf village turned a serious and powerful gaze upon the two men in front of him which caused the two to flinch slightly. Upon seeing the gaze of the old man only one thought went through the minds of the samurai and Anbu, _'the god of shinobi is back'_.

"alright Inu-san, what's your report?" his tone was firm and powerful with a hint of another emotion that said 'and don't bullshit me either'.

"er…erm, Hokage-sama, on our way to check up on young Naruto, we were side tracked by a member of the civilian council who told us that there had been a sighting of an intruder by the western gate, we believed that it would be more important to check on the claim before making our way to Naruto"

"and was the claim confirmed?"

The Anbu seemed hesitant to tell him but the dangerous glint in the Hokage's eyes told him it wouldn't end well if he didn't.

"w-well, upon arrival at the gate we checked in with the current Chunin guards that were there and when asked about the claim, both men stated to have never made such a report and that they had no idea what we were talking about"

"do you believe they were telling the truth?"

"y-yes Hokage-sama"

The Hokage looked deep in thought for a moment before gesturing for the Anbu to continue.

"after we dealt with that we made our way to Naruto's apartment only to find he wasn't there, fearing the worst, I ordered my team to search the immediate area for any sign of him. Eventually we found him being pursued by a group of drunken civilian men armed with various makeshift weapons"

The temperature in the room dropped several degrees as a thick killer intent seeped out of the old man.

"W-when the boy was chased into an alleyway he stumbled upon Arata-san here who came to the boy's defense by incapacitating the men. They are being interrogated by Ibiki-san as we speak"

The killer intent seemed to decrease slightly as the old man settled into his chair with a sleepy Naruto nodding off in his lap.

"very well, at least Naruto-kun was not harmed, however I want the council member that distracted you brought before me at once, I have a feeling it was no coincidence that they distracted you as you were making your way to Naruto-kun"

"at once Hokage-sama!"

The Anbu disappeared in a flurry of leaves and left the Hokage with his two guests.

"well Arata-san, it would seem I owe you my thanks" he said with a small smile

"not at all Hokage-san, I owe it to the boy's father to keep him safe"

Within the blink of an eye the Hokage disappeared and reappeared behind the samurai having set Naruto down on the sofa that resided in the office and placed a hidden kunai to the man's throat, a deathly glare that could make men such as Orochimaru weep across his face.

"and just how do you know about the boy's father?"

If the samurai was impressed with the mans speed he didn't show it, instead, he merely kept a straight face and replied in an even, unaffected tone.

"I knew his father long before he ever became Hokage, he saved my life once when I was cast out of my home and in doing so earned my undying respect and loyalty even to this day"

"if that is so then where have you been all this time? Why did you never come to care for his only child?"

Much to the shock of the Hokage, the samurai seemed to blur out of vision before coming back into sight again in front of him, his katana drawn and an angry scowl on his face.

"because I was told by a member of your council that the boy had died along with his parents, it was not until he bumped into me earlier that I even knew he was still alive!"a killer intent that seemed to match the Hokages own seemed to fill the air while the two men glared pure disgust at each other, before relenting and sheathing their weapons.

"it would seem my council has been sticking their noses where they don't belong"

"I believe you are right"

The Hokage made his way back towards his desk where he sat down with his hands steepled under his chin, a look of deep thought upon his face.

"tell me Arata-san, now that you know he is alive, what do you intend to do?"

Arata pulled a small blue scroll from his clothing before handing it to the Hokage who accepted it with a curious look.

"what is this?"

"that, Hokage-san, is a scroll I received from the boy's father a month before his death, it is a request to train his only child in my people's ways and to take care of him should anything happen to him and if his god parents were unable to"

A silence crept across the room, its thickness almost suffocating for anyone else should they enter the room. The silence was broken when the Hokage all but ripped the seal off the scroll, its contents now displayed before him… it was a letter from Minato or more specifically, a will.

 _I, Minato Namikaze, fourth Hokage, being of sound mind, hereby declare one Arata Akiyama as the sole guardian of my son should anything prevent myself, my wife or his godparents from doing so. He has my full permission to teach my son in his people's lifestyle and warrior like teachings. He also has my permission, should it be necessary, to take my son away from the village of Konoha to provide a better, healthier environment. Regarding my son's inheritance, should he stay in the village then all finances and property, that was previously owned by myself and my wife, are to be given to him once he reaches the age of sixteen. However, if he is to leave the village under Mr Akiyamas care, then all property and finances are to be kept on hold until Mr Akiyama decides that Naruto is ready for them, once Naruto does receive his inheritance, then he has complete control over what is to be done with it and under no circumstances are the councils of Konoha allowed to have any say at all in how the inheritance is spent or used, to further inforce this point, all property and finances are protected by a blood seal that can only be access by a person who's blood is a combination of both myself and my wife, the soul person with this type of blood being my son._

 _Signed_

 _Minato Namikaze, Fourth Hokage and father to Naruto Namikaze_

 _Co-signed_

 _Kushina Uzumaki-Namikaze, mother to Naruto Namikaze_

If someone had told Hiruzen this morning that he'd be receiving a letter from his long dead predecessor and friend, then he'd of backhanded said person out of the window and called them a liar. However, sitting in his office then and there, with said letter in his hand, he couldn't help but wonder at the surrealism of it all. But this also brought up new questions for the old man, for example, who is Arata Akiyama? And why does Minato trust him with something that was so precious to him that he willingly laid down his life to protect it? These questions had to be answered and Naruto wasn't going anywhere until they were.

"to be honest with you Arata-san, right this very second I feel like calling you a liar and having you publicly executed for trying to impersonate my long dead friend and trying to take away my surrogate grandson… however, this is Minato-kuns handwriting, and it is definitely his seal and signature, so I am willing to give you the benefit of the doubt"

"but I take it you wish for further proof and information about myself before you'll entrust Naruto into my care?"

The third Hokage lit his pipe and preceded to lean back into his chair, a visual confirmation that he would stand by his point and that neither of them were leaving the room until he was satisfied.

"very well Hokage-san, I shall start with how I met Minato-san"

The Hokage pointed to one of the chairs in front of his desk, a signal for Arata to make himself comfortable which Arata kindly accepted.

"ten years ago, I was a member of a prestigious clan of samurai that belonged to the land of Iron, life was good and my skills in the samurai arts where second to only my father, who at the time was also the leader of the clan. But one day my father became ill, he was bedridden and unable to lead the clan, in his absence it was my job as his heir to take control and rule until he was well enough to regain his position"

Arata's face seemed to contort into a vision of pure disgust and rage and he practically spat his next words out.

"but one day my father's brother, my uncle Kenshin Akiyama, staged a coup as a way of gaining my father's position. He had managed to persuade a large number of our clans forces into standing by him with promises of power and fortune. The battle was bloody and very few of my father's loyal men were still alive. Eventually my uncle managed to force his way into my father's home that we were using as our main base of operations and slaughtered anyone in his way until eventually he found my father's ill and broken body lying in his bed and proceeded to run his sword through my father's heart while he lay there defenseless"

Arata shook with visible rage, his hand tightened into fists sending his knuckles white. The Hokage himself was disgusted with the acts of such a coward, but his rage was a hundred times less visible.

"eventually I managed to escape with a few loyal men and what was left of my family, being my mother and not long born younger brother Gildarts. The rest of the clan was either submitted to my uncle's rule or executed"

"what did you do after you escaped?"

"well, we travelled from town to town, finding small time work to keep us going whilst searching for a place to live. Eventually we found a small settlement in Rock Country. We lived for many months on a small plot of land under the guise of small time wheat farmers, no one really bothered us and in return we kept to ourselves"

A sudden feeling of dread crept up the spine of the old man, he'd heard of many clans that had been sent spiraling into civil war when a member sought more power that couldn't be obtain in an otherwise peaceful way. This story sounded no different to him.

"I take it this time of peace didn't last long?"

"…no, it turned out that my uncle had been keeping track of our movements ever since we escaped and was just waiting for us to let our guard down before striking. One night after we'd retired for the night, an army of bandits hired by my uncle attacked the farm. They burnt down any and all buildings in their path, slaughtered any man who stood against them until they eventually trapped myself, my brother and my mother inside the main house… and set it alight"

"I'm sorry to hear it, though I take it you escaped seeing as though you're here"

A small reminiscent smile managed to edge its way onto Arata's face, an image of a blonde haired man in shinobi armor flashed through his mind. He would forever owe his life to that man and even though he wasn't alive today to repay him, Arata would do everything he could to protect his friends only son and heir.

"we were trapped in one of the upstairs rooms unable to escape, the fumes had begun to creep under the door and it was becoming harder to breath. I thought for sure we would die there and then. But just when we'd given up hope, a bright yellow flash filled the room and the next thing we know we're outside safe and sound and the bandits were all dead"

"I take it your savior was our mutual friend?"

"indeed, he was in the area on a mission when he stumbled across the attack, he saved all of us and brought us right here in Konoha"

That surprised Hiruzen, he'd never heard of any refuges at the time from Minato and he'd certainly never recollected a mission to Rock country, had the Fourth kept secrets from him?

"why did I never hear of your stay here? And more importantly I don't recollect any mission to Rock country five years ago, not one organized by me anyway"

"that's mostly my fault, I asked Minato-san to keep my presence here a secret as to not alert my uncle to our whereabouts. As for his mission, I believe it was of a personal nature, something to do with a new seal he was working on that later became quite useful in saving my family"

"how so?"

"that, is difficult to explain, especially without Minato-san here"

"try me, I'm no master when it comes to seals but I'm certainly no amateur either"

Arata seemed to consider it for a minute before finally relenting and explaining in the best way that either of them could understand. It wasn't an easy subject to discuss and he wasn't exactly an expert on the subject, as a matter of fact he hadn't even used any seals before until he met Minato. But he had a duty to convince the Hokage that he was capable of taking care of Naruto and in order to do that he needed to reveal as much as he could about his friendship with Minato.

"before Minato-san met me, he had been working on a new form of transportation seal that worked a lot like his Hiraishin jutsu, the only difference being that it used a lot less chakra and it could transport more people than his original jutsu ever could. He wanted to incorporate it into Konohas emergency defense system, it would allow multiple civilians to be transported to shelters in half the time it usually takes, it would also allow for Shinobi to be transported to key defense areas in an instant without using their own chakra"

"I see, but what's the difference between this new seal and a normal shunshin?"

"well instead of depending on the user's own chakra, a second seal acts as a large storage seal that's filled with the chakra of one or many users and is kept sealed until its needed to be used, that way it has no effect on the chakra levels of the users at the time, that's how I understand it anyway, Minato-san had a much more in depth explanation than that"

"that does indeed sound like a massive benefit to the defense of the village, so why wasn't it used? And how did it help your family?"

"well although it was ideal and simple enough, to Minato-san anyway, in theory. It was incredibly difficult in practice to create. He kept running into different problems when it came to the main seal. Eventually he thought he had it and just to make sure it's safe he used it himself"

"I take it didn't go so well"

"haha no, and Kushina-chan wasn't all that impressed when she found out the next day"

"well I imagine not, she never did agree with his behavior when it came to his use of seals"

"indeed, however, the seal was a bust, he never arrived at the original destination and was gone for hours"

"obviously he came back, so what happened?"

Now this was the tricky part, the rest of this conversation could go one of two ways, one he could reveal all he knows, get called insane and sent to an insane asylum for the rest of his life. Or the Hokage might believe him and he finally gets a chance at training his friends soul child, at least he hoped he could.

"this is where things get a little unbelievable Hokage-san"

"well I've heard a lot of things in my time, I doubt this is any different to those"

"well I guess we'll have to see then. After he disappeared we waited for hours for him to return, eventually we almost lost all hope that he would ever return. But then out of nowhere there was a bright light and he reappeared, he was a little battered and bruised but no worse for wear"

"what did he tell you?"

"he… he said something went wrong and instead of him ending up at the designated destination he ended up in another place entirely, he said that it wasn't just that he ended up in another town or even another country… he ended up in another world"

The Hokage chuckled slightly, he was right, this is unbelievable.

"surely you jest Arata-san, a seal of that magnitude would need a massive amount of chakra, rivaling even that of the nine tailed beasts"

When he was met with silence the old Hokage new that this was no joke, his friend and most loyal ally had indeed travelled to another world and the mere thought of it left you with head rush. Another world? If it was anyone else he would have thought it impossible, but Minato Namikaze was a genius, un-matched in his field and a deadly enemy un-rivaled on the battlefield. He could decimate armies, bring down empires and tame the most savage of beasts. If anyone could do it, it was him.

"what did he say of this new world?"

"he said it was one like no other, from what he gathered the people there didn't use chakra, but instead used another form of energy called magic. They had a great many abilities that we don't have and vice-versa, he said he even witnessed a teenager, no older than fourteen, create fire without hand seals and a man travel a great distance on a vehicle they call a magic-mobile, it requires no animal to pull it, only the energy they call magic and it can travel faster than even a skilled Jounin"

"it sounds like a wondrous place, but I still don't get how it helped your family"

"when Minato-san told me of this place I realized it brought new possibilities for my family. Here was a place that had no war, no severe poverty, just a peaceful kingdom looking towards the future together and with my uncle still after us I knew I had to find a way to send my family there, so after weeks of work perfecting the seal we were finally able to send multiple people safely to this other world"

"and I take it you did exactly that"

It was a statement really, more than a question. Hiruzen had to admit that the idea of sending people to another, more peaceful world was certainly worth his interest, but more importantly it presented a way out for a certain blond haired young boy he knew and cherished.

"yes I did, my mother and brother were sent there immediately, where I hope to this day that they are safe and well"

"but why did you not go with them?"

"well as you know, with great power comes great risks, it turned out that in transporting to another world we were affecting our world in return, the area around us for miles was drained of it natural energy and was left a complete wasteland"

"but I thought it only used a small amount of chakra to power it?"

"it did, but what we didn't realize was that was because it wasn't just accessing our chakra, but the natural chakra all around us, we never considered that the reason it used so little human chakra was because it was drawing on the non-human chakra all around it"

"I can see that being a problem, so that's why you didn't go, you didn't want to risk permanently damaging this world"

Arata nodded with a sigh, he knew he couldn't risk damaging this world any further and to be honest he was surprised they hadn't done damage when Minato had first used it, even if it was by accident.

"it's true, in order to use the seal again we would have to wait until the area around it was restored, we would have moved it but the seal had become bonded with the earth and creating another one could have been disastrous"

"I believe that I understand, how long would it take for the seal to be ready to use again?"

Arata seemed to consider something for a minute and Hiruzen couldn't help but notice the discreet glances he would throw towards Naruto which sent him on edge slightly. If this man was planning what he thought he was planning, then Arata would need a bloody good argument for it before he went along with it.

"from this day? Around nine years"

"that's quite a long time Arata-san, what do you intend to do in the mean time?"

"well Hokage-san, I was hoping you would allow me to take young Naruto under my wing, to train him to the point where he could easily defend himself"

Now that didn't sound so bad to the old man, Naruto would be taken care of and as an added bonus he would be trained in, what he assumed, would be the use of a very powerful fighting style. The only problem was, what happens when the nine years are up? What would be in store for young Naruto when he reaches an age where he is capable of going out for himself without the support of a guardian?

"let's say I agree to this for arguments sake, what happens when the training is over and you are ready to use the seal? Will you take Naruto with you or will you leave him behind?"

"I can understand your worry, but when the time comes it will be completely up to Naruto, I will not push him to make any decisions that aren't his own"

That was certainly a reassurance, but there was still one problem…

"what of our furry friend?"

"ah yes, not to worry, with the training I have in mind Naruto will be able to control his power and even incorporate it into his fighting style, he will be a force to be reckoned with"

If that was true, then there really wasn't any reason to refuse, Naruto would be safe and if he decided to stay in the village, the village would have a powerful shinobi in its ranks. As far as he could tell it was a win-win situation for all parties involved.

"very well, I will officially state you as Narutos guardian and personal trainer and will entrust you with his safety, though I must make it clear that if any harm should come to my grandson either by your hand or someone else under your command, I will hunt you down and you will realize why they call me the god of shinobi"

"I understand Hokage-san; I will protect the boy with my life, you have my word on that"

Both men stood from their chairs and made their way over to the door, the Hokage opened it for his visitor and offered him a hand that was gladly excepted.

"Naruto-kun will stay here with me tonight, you may talk with him in the morning but first I wish to speak with him myself Arata-san, if he is to be busy training then this might be my only chance of very few to see him, I wish to make the most of it"

"very well Hokage-san, then I shall see you in the morning"

"indeed, good night Arata-san"

"goodnight Hokage-san"

And with a final farewell, the samurai left for the night, his thoughts on how well his new apprentice would take to his training regime. Meanwhile Hiruzen sat at the other end of the couch that was currently being used by his surrogate grandson, the weight of the world seemed to of been lifted of his shoulders and a happy smile was etched on his face. He had tried for years to find a more permanent solution to Narutos problem and one had just seemingly appeared out of thin air.

While the old man contemplated on how he could help his grandson even further he was interrupted by a flash of smoke and the appearance of two figures. One was the Anbu from earlier and the other was a young woman, around twenty-three years old with long pink hair that trailed in a ponytail down to the center of her back. This woman was Karen Haruno, second wife to Kizashi Haruno and step mother to Sakura Haruno, although the resemblance could have you believe otherwise. After Kizashi's first wife, Mebuki Haruno, had died during the nine-tails attack six years ago, Kizashi had sought after a new wife to be a mother for his young daughter and had ended up marrying the daughter of a merchant in Konoha. Kizashi himself was a well-known merchant with a large chain of shops throughout the shinobi nations and had money to spare despite his young age, many believed this was the reason that Karen had married him in the first place and her constant spending didn't help the accusations. Just to top it all off, she was the loudest voice in the civilian council to demand the death of Naruto when his identity as the Jinchuriki of the nine-tails was revealed. Though he never had any proof, Hiruzen always suspected that she was involved in some way with the constant attacks on Narutos life, now however, he was sure he had her in a position more likeable than before.

"Hokage-sama, I have brought lady Haruno as you requested"

"thankyou Inu-san, please stay for a while, I may have another mission for you"

"as you wish Hokage-sama"

That was when he noticed it, if only for a brief second, one so brief he almost thought he imagined it, a look of complete disappointment and anger skimmed across the council woman's face when she noticed the young boy asleep on the sofa. If not for the current presence of his grandson, he might have forcefully wiped the look off her face in the most painful way he could. However, he would not risk waking Naruto up after such an eventful night only to witness the man he trusted more than anything beating a woman, if you could call her that after her recent activities regarding him, to a bloody pulp.

"ah Haruno-san, I'm glad you could join us"

His voice seemed friendly, but the underlying message was clear 'you dared not refuse for your own sake'.

"it's a pleasure to be invited into your office Hokage-sama" her voice was professional and calm, but the air of over confidence and supposed superiority was very much apparent.

"I'm sure it is"

The Hokage moved over to his desk and with a brief glance between his Anbu and his grandson, the Anbu member moved over to sit with the sleeping child intent on protecting him incase anything went wrong. All this went unnoticed by the council woman who just seemed to continue staring straight ahead.

"Haruno-san earlier tonight I sent my best and most loyal team of Anbu to check in on one of our village orphans, one Naruto Uzumaki. However, upon returning I was informed that the team was distracted by a member of the civilian council, who falsely informed them of an intruder entering one of our gates. Any ideas who this council member might be?"

"I don't think that's really necessary do you Hokage-sama?"

"no I don't"

The Hokage knew she had to be punished, though he knew it wouldn't be easy, she was one of the more popular members of the civilian council and any punishment would be viewed as the Hokages way of disrupting the civilians power flow. But right then and there he didn't care, he ran a shinobi village, not a civilian one and if they didn't like the way he ran things then they were more than welcome to leave.

Clearing his throat, he straightened his posture and set his gaze upon the woman in front of him and in all honesty it unnerved her. She knew she'd get caught, she knew from the start and in all honesty she wasn't really expecting much of a punishment. Everyone knew the Hokage had grown lax in his elderly years, there were many a time where the civilians would push the boundaries of their power and get away with it, why would this time be any different? But looking into that steely gaze she knew that this wasn't one of those times.

"Karen Haruno, you are hereby placed under arrest for meddling in the affairs of the Hokages personal Anbu, you are also under arrest on suspicion of conspiring to cause the death of a child of the village. You will be given a trial where you will be judged by your peers, during that time you may resent a defense for your case. If found guilty your punishment will be decided by myself and the rest of the shinobi council as your crimes directly affected members of Konohas shinobi forces. Have I made myself clear?"

He was really going to do it! he was actually going to punish her! What right did he have? Without the civilians, where would the shinobi get their money from? They depended on them! Well if she was going to go down it wouldn't be quietly.

"you can't do that Hokage-sama"

"and whys that?"

"you depend on the civilian population and its council far more than you are willing to admit, if you take this to trial it would appear as if the Hokage and his shinobi forces are trying to improve their political standing, which in turn would damage public relations"

That was true, relations would likely decline and arguments would take over most of the council meetings. However, he knew that would happen and he was more than prepared.

"well Haruno-san, if my actions will damage relations so terribly, I might as well take it one step further, Inu-san please reassemble your team and have them round up both the shinobi and civilian councils, I want them in the meeting hall straight away I'm calling a meeting"

"right away Hokage-sama"

The Anbu disappeared yet again in a cloud of smoke leaving a still sleeping Naruto, a now visually furious Karen and a rather calm and collective Hokage filling out seemingly unimportant paperwork. Unknown to anybody else was the fact that the old man was in fact filling out the paperwork needed to hand over Naruto to his new guardian as well as a few other things that were sure to rattle a few feathers amongst the civilian council.

"Hokage-sama I don't know what you're planning but surely the trouble it will cause isn't worth the life of that thing you have sleeping in your office as if it were even human"

The temperature in the room dropped several degrees and right there and then she knew she should have stayed quiet. His voice was calm and collective, but the hint of anger in his words only hinted at the boiling inferno of rage that was hidden inside.

"let me make something perfectly clear Haruno, you may be free to insult Naruto as much as you want when in the presence of your fellow civilian council members, but when you stand in front of me you will keep such disgusting remarks to yourself because I will not put up with it!"

His voice seemed to raise to almost a shout towards the end of his sentence, his anger barely contained. Situations like this only proved to back up his decision on Narutos future, if Naruto was to have any sort of life then he would have to spend it far away from people like this.

"now, I have a council session to attend, you will follow me but not as a council woman but as a woman on trial"

She didn't say anything in reply, there was nothing to say, she'd been caught and now she would pay the price. But she was a woman of power and position, even if it was about to be stripped away from her she would still hold her head up high and contrary to popular belief, she truly did love her husband and she adored her step daughter to the point where she thought of her as her own. So for their sake, she would hold her head up high and show no weakness, she would not damage the Haruno name any more than she already had. Both the Hokage and Karen made their way through the corridors of the Hokage tower on their way to the council room. Upon entry through a set of large double doors the two entered a room that for all intents and purposes was rather large for a council room. Opposite the doors on the far side of the room sat a raised platform with a long rectangular table stretching from the left hand side to the right. Behind it were various chairs with one larger than the rest sitting at the center. The Hokage took the center chair whilst Karen took a single chair in the middle of the room facing the council. On the Hokages left sat the members of the civilian council and his advisers including Danzo, his estranged friend and political rival and the head of the Haruno civilian clan Kizashi Haruno, who was more surprised than anyone that he had been called as his wife normally dealt with these meetings. On his right sat the shinobi council consisting of the Inuzuka, Aburame, Hyuga, Nara and Akimichi clan heads all ready and willing to serve there Hokage. Silence reigned supreme until Danzo decided he had enough and in a way that showed no respect for his Hokage at all, spoke.

"Hiruzen, why have you called this meeting at such an hour?"

"it's Hokage-sama to you Danzo and don't forget it"

The death glare he sent at his rival left no room for argument and with such a sentence the rest of the room realized that this was going to be a no nonsense meeting from the start. That was when Kizashi noticed his wife in the center of the room and his eyes widened in concern and panic.

"Hokage-sama, why is my wife sat before us instead of sitting as a member of this council?"

That was when the rest of the council noticed her presence as well and threw curious glances her way. It was noo secret that the shinobi council members held no liking for such a woman as Karen Haruno. She was a loud mouth and a conniving wretch who constantly tried to undermine the Hokages authority and it was no secret that she greatly disliked young Naruto and the amount of hatred for him greatly disturbed the shinobi. They held no ill will to the Jinchuriki and in fact respected him for his ability to keep such a beast in check, even if it was unknowingly. The fact that such a woman was sat before them now meant one could assume that the proverbial 'shit' was about to go down.

"Karen Haruno is sat before us on trial for conspiracy to commit murder and interfering with shinobi activities"

The room was silent for all of two seconds before the civilians shouted out in uproar and disbelief, demanding to know where the proof for such an accusation was and how ridiculous it was to even suggest it. The situation on the opposite side of the room was incredibly different, no one made a sound and just sat with an almost amused expression on their faces while their civilian counterparts were descending into further madness. The civilians continued to shout but the loudest of them all was Kizashi who couldn't believe that the Hokage would even consider accusing his beloved wife of such a thing, he'd already lost one wife he certainly wouldn't lose another without the fight of his life.

The chaos ensued until the Hokage slammed his fist onto the table, an angry scowl on his face that quickly silenced the angry mob before him.

"do not forget whose council chambers you sit in councilors, if I make such an accusation you can guarantee I have the evidence to back it up"

The last of the mob seemed to resign themselves to the fact that in this situation they had no power, although there were still a few with angry scowls. Danzo for one knew that his old friend and rival certainly wouldn't make such an accusation without proof, it was one of his many qualities and so in this situation he would back him up, just this once anyway.

"I agree with Hokage-sama, he would never make such an accusation without having the ability to back up his words, we should listen and decide upon our own opinions once we've heard what he has to say"

Hiruzen nodded a reluctant thanks to his rival before clearing his throat and raising his hand in a wave towards the door.

"come on in Inu-san"

From the doors came Inu and his Anbu team, they all knew the seriousness of the situation and were deathly loyal to their Hokage. To accuse a council member of such a crime was no light accusation and to do so without a shred of decent proof was a death wish all on its own.

The Anbu came to a stop in front of the platform, straight backed with their masks in place.

"you called for us Hokage-sama?"

The civilian members of the council seemed to eye the special forces members curiously, wondering internally as to what they could be here for.

"yes Inu-san, thank you for coming"

The Hokage reached into his robe and produced a few small scrolls he had prepared beforehand and laid them onto the table in front of him.

"now to get to the point, earlier tonight I sent this very team of Anbu to check in on one Naruto Uzumaki as to ensure his safety, after what seemed like too long of a wait for such a simple checkup, Inu-san returned with some rather disturbing news. If you'd like to elaborate Inu-san?"

Inu took a few steps towards the council members as to identify him from the group for those of the council who had few dealings with the Anbu and found it hard to identify them.

"of course Hokage-sama, on our way to check in on Naruto, we were stopped by a member of the council, one Karen Haruno, who informed us of an intruder break in at one of our village gates and requested that we go in search of the intruder and to bring them in for questioning"

The shinobi councilors looked at each other with questioning gazes, they hadn't heard of a break in and being members of the most powerful clans in Konoha, clan heads no less, they should have been informed straight away of an enemy incursion. Something told them there was more to this than there seemed.

"when my team and myself arrived at the gate we questioned the current gate guards about the incident but found no report of any intruder had been made and was met by confused and uncertain questions that clearly pointed out that the report was in fact false"

All eyes were now on Karen who sat straight with her eyes straight ahead, making no effort to refute the claim. For the shinobi this was a confirmation of guilt already but before they could pass judgement they were required to hear the whole story. Tsume Inuzuka was more convinced than anyone, if one was to say that Karen was the leader of the anti-Naruto movement, then one could also say that Tsume was her greatest nemesis, she had been a starch believer in protecting Naruto and had even attempted to adopt the boy into her clan, however this was met with much resistance by the civilians and even the Hyuga clan who had claimed that adopting a Jinchuriki into one clan would give said clan an unfair advantage in both political and military power, although that's not how she saw it, she just wanted to care for the young pup but knew that any further insistence would just lead to placing the Inuzuka in a bad light amongst people of Konoha.

"please continue Anbu-san"

"yes Inuzuka-sama, with the claim proven wrong we continued with our previous objective. Finally we made it to Narutos apartment but found that there was no sign of him and that there had in fact been a struggle of some sorts, fearing the worse, we left in search of him and eventually found him being pursued by a group of angry drunks armed with various makeshift weapons through the residential district. When we finally caught up to them however, Naruto was no longer in need of saving as an, at the time, unidentified individual dressed in traditional samurai clothing had come to his rescue and had incapacitated the drunken mob before any physical damage could be done to the boy"

Tsume smiled slightly at that, the boy was safe yet again and no harm had come of him. That was however until she noticed the disappointed and angry looks coming from her civilian counterparts and her smile turned into and angry frown that was mirrored by her fellow shinobi clan heads apart from of course, the Hyuga clan head Hiashi, who sat with the same stoic expression as always.

"after detaining the mob I brought Naruto and the man back to the Hokages office where I gave in my report before being sent off to detain Karen-san"

With his report finished the Anbu member stood back in place with his fellow members and awaited the continuation of the last minute trial. The Hokage himself gave an approving nod before addressing the rest of the team.

"and does the rest of Inu-sans team approve of Inu-sans account of the events?"

"Hai Hokage-sama!" was there combined reply.

"very well, then I shall fill in with my own account of things from after Karen was brought to me, after Karen was brought before me I questioned her on her actions and was disappointed to hear that she had no argument against the accusation and even went on to say, and I quote, 'surely the trouble it will cause isn't worth the life of that thing you have sleeping in your office as if it were even human', such a thing to say about one so young and innocent sends a sickening feeling right through my body"

With his piece said the Hokage turned his attention to his shinobi commanders and addressed them directly.

"ladies and gentleman of the shinobi council, this is obviously a shinobi matter as her actions directly affected the mission parameters of a team of Anbu special forces, therefore I leave the judgement of her guilt up to you, however, if she is found guilty then I myself will decide her punishment, I already have one in mind"

This drew out the enraged comment from one of the more pompous members of the civilian council, a short, fat bellied man who practically reeked of false superiority.

"you can't do that Hokage-san, miss Haruno is a member of the civilian council and is in fact a civilian herself, therefore she should be dealt with by us, besides what does it really matter if some demon child's life was in danger? He has no worth when compared to any normal human"

His comment was met with a large variety of killer intent, the largest two coming from the Hokage and Tsume Inuzuka who would gladly rip of his head if the Hokage asked her too, luckily for her the councilman had made a mistake that had already sealed his fate.

"need I remind you councilman that **I** am Hokage here and you will refer to me as 'Hokage-sama' and secondly I believe that I said that her actions directly affected a team of shinobi which makes this a shinobi matter and lastly, but definitely my favorite part, you just broke the law I put in place by referring to young Naruto as 'demon child' therefore the appropriate punishment shall be enforced"

Knowing where the second source of killer intent came from the Hokage gestured for Tsume to carry out the appropriate sentencing who nodded in thanks with a sadistic smile that made the other people in the room, save for the Hokage, cringe in fear.

Within a flash Tsume was behind the standing councilman and in one quick, almost unseeable, movement brought her kunai to his throat and proceeded to end his life there and then, coating the table in front of them in a layer of blood. She was back in her chair again, not a single speck of blood on her as if nothing had ever happened, the only evidence of her attack being the self-satisfied smirk she wore proudly. Two Anbu appeared next to the now dead councilman and in a flurry of movements cleaned up and disappeared with the body leaving no evidence behind of the previous events.

"well, now that that's out of the way we may continue. Shinobi councilors, what is your decision?"

Hiashi was the first to stand and in a stoic voice, devoid of no emotion gave his decision.

"I, Hiashi Hyuga, find Karen Haruno guilty of interference and innocent of conspiracy to commit murder as there is no evidence to suggest she knew of the Anbu team's intention of going in search of Naruto-san"

Sitting back down it was now Shibi Aburames turn to stand.

"I agree with Hiashi-sans verdict"

And so it continued with the others.

"I, Choza Akimichi, also agree"

"troublesome, the Nara clan agrees also"

That is until it reached one Tsume Inuzuka.

"the Inuzuka clan finds Karen Haruno guilty of interference and conspiracy to commit the murder of a minor and request the death sentence"

She said this whilst twirling a kunai in her hand with an almost sadistic pleasure, the intent to kill clear in her eyes. The other clan heads looked at her with questioning gazes whilst the civilians looked on in shock and worry. Karen herself seemed to be completely unfazed by the request and just continued staring straight ahead. She knew that she would likely die, but to show fear now would only taint the Haruno name further.

"very well then, with all parties agreeing on her guilt, I find Karen Haruno guilty of interference, however, with a four to one argument in favor of being innocent, I find her innocent of conspiracy to commit murder" the rest of the room could see that he was unhappy with the decision, but he knew that he couldn't argue any further, he would instead make lemonade with lemons, or so the saying goes.

"now I will decide the punishment"

The rest of the civilians waited with baited breath as they awaited their fellow council member's punishment, no more so than Kizashi who had turned a sickly green color and had traces of tears welling up in his eyes.

"I, Hiruzen Sarutobi, third Hokage of Konoha, sentence one Karen Haruno to lif- "

His sentence was interrupted when the doors to the room were flung open and a familiar head of blond hair appeared in front of Karen, his arms spread wide as if he was protecting her from an imminent attack.

"please don't hurt her Jii-san!"

The people in the room looked on in surprise at the young boy, none more so than Karen who for the first time during the entire time showed an emotion other than stoic refinement. No one could quite comprehend what had just happened and it would take some time before they would fully regain their thoughts.

"I can't let you hurt her!"

 **Chapter end**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: This chapter contains time skips and may seem rushed to some but there is a reason and that reason is I really want to get to the Fairy tail crossover part of the story but that will most likely be around chapter 5 and I have quite a bit to fit in before then. Please enjoy and remember to review :)**

 **Chapter 2**

 **A second chance deserved?**

"I can't let you hurt her!"

His young voice echoed throughout the chamber, bouncing of the finely crafted walls and ceiling. No one said anything for a while, but Naruto stood strong in his blatant defiance. Of all people to say anything it was Karen who broke the silence, much to the surprise of everyone as she had been completely silent up until this point.

"what are you doing brat? Don't get involved in matters you can't comprehend" her voice was harsh and filled with poison, but behind it there was a hint of confusion and feelings she would have never directed his way before, no matter how small it was it was still there, gratitude.

' _no, no! I won't fall for his demonic tricks, I won't!'_

"I don't need protection brat! Especially not from you!"

Her comment seemed to bounce off him without affecting him in the slightest, instead, he turned his head to look over his shoulder and gave her a blinding smile that just left her more confused. However, it was his next words that completely blew her away.

"I heard everything Karen-san, but don't worry, I forgive you, I don't know why you don't like me, but if hating me makes you feel better than just go right ahead and dump all your hatred on me, I'd be happy to take it away from you"

It was like a stab in the heart, a sudden realization that hit her like a slap to the face. For years since the attack of the nine-tails she had blamed the young boy and hated him with a passion. She'd planned, arranged and orchestrated multiple attacks on his life and yet here he was, smiling like an idiot and forgiving her as if it's the easiest thing in the world to do.

' _b-but he's supposed to be a demon! Why do I feel so guilty!'_

She couldn't help the single tear that slid down her face, nor could she help the second or third. Soon enough she was silently sobbing in her seat, her head down and her hair splayed across her face hiding it from view. The other council members on both sides could only look on in mutual shock as the otherwise composed woman broke down before them, no one knew quite how to approach this situation or how to comfort the woman, those who wanted to anyway. Naruto, unsure of what else to do, approached the woman and wrapped his arms around her shaking frame, holding her in a gentle embrace. Her breath caught slightly for a moment, but soon enough she had wrapped her arms around his small body, returning the embrace, muttering constant apologies over and over again.

Hiruzen for his part could only look on in pride as his surrogate grandson had shown more compassion and understanding than any other person in the room. Though this was still a difficult situation, he couldn't let her get away with her crime as she'd already been found guilty. To release her scot free would only encourage others to make such attempts in the future. 'maybe there's another way around this' he thought as he stroked his chin in thought. Whatever alternative he came up with would have to have meaning otherwise it would be pointless. That's when it hit him, even if it was so sudden she'd obviously come to regret her past actions and would probably be looking for a way to atone for it, so why not involve Naruto? He lived alone and that probably wasn't the best idea security wise, and since she had wronged him surely whatever punishment she had should in some way benefit the boy. With that thought in mind he prepared to reveal his punishment, clearing his throat he gained the attention of those around him including the hugging pair who look up at him, one in slight confusion and interest, the other through tear stained eyes.

"well, although this is quite the touching scene I still need to hand down my punishment" when Naruto looked like he would interject Hiruzen held his hand up to silence the boy, when that didn't work, it was Karen who silenced him by placing a gentle hand on his shoulder sending a small smile his way.

"it's ok Naruto, I did wrong, those who do wrong should be punished"

Her words seemed to quiet him down for now but the face he made obviously showed his unhappiness. The old man smiled at the scene, it was in that moment that he knew his decision was the right one.

"yes well, back to business, I put a lot of thought into your punishment and before we were interrupted I had planned on giving you a life sentence"

Narutos eyes went wide at that, he may be young but he knew what that meant. It meant she'd never get out of prison and he didn't want that. His thoughts and worries were put to rest however as the Hokage continued his announcement, although he wasn't sure what to make of it.

"however, I have taken into account your obvious regret of your actions and have decided upon a new punishment"

Clearing his throat so that everyone could fully understand him he continued.

"Karen Haruno, I sentence you to nine years' community service in which you spend your time caring for Naruto in any of his needs which will include house cleaning, education for him outside the academy and personal guidance in any matters that he may struggle with, this will take effect as of tomorrow morning, until then, you will be expected to stay at home until someone comes to fetch you in the morning"

With his piece said the Hokage stood from his chair and approached the pair who had yet to say anything. He bent down to their level despite his aching bones and sent a friendly smile at the woman which only seemed to unnerve her further.

"you've been given a second chance Haruno-san, but I wonder if you deserve it? I guess we'll find out"

The woman merely nodded before he fixed his stare on Naruto who shivered slightly under the intensity.

"now Naruto, although I have every bit of confidence in Haruno-sans want to prove herself, I want you to make sure that if anything goes wrong that you come and tell me directly okay?"

The young boy beamed at his Jii-san and nodded enthusiastically.

"sure thing Jii-san! But you don't have to worry, I'm sure there won't be any problems"

The Hokage just couldn't get enough of the little boy's enthusiasm, it was enough to brighten anyone's day. With his piece said the Hokage and the rest of the council left the room escorted by his personal Anbu leaving a still confused Karen, a happy Naruto and an upset Kizashi. Kizashi had listened in to everything without saying a word, he was disappointed to find out that his wife had been involved in such a plot, he could understand her hatred of the boy if she had lost someone in the attack, but she hadn't lost a single person that night, not a family member and not a friend. So where did her hatred stem from? Was it just out of loyalty to her village or even himself? Or had something more sinister been involved? He would have to find out, so with these questions in mind he made his way over to his beloved wife and the object of her, now supposed previous, hatred. He himself had never hated the boy, he knew the difference between a scroll and a kunai and so only directed his hatred to that of the beast itself and not its jailor. Kneeling down in front of his wife he placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, causing her to look up at him, although he could tell she wasn't really looking, more likely she was in deep thought over the previous events.

"are you ok love?"

His question seemed to break her out of her thoughts as she spoke in a slightly croaked voice, probably the result of her crying and the stress of the night combined.

"y-yes, I suppose I am"

He smiled gently at her before looking towards the boy next to them, who seemed to be feeling a little out of place where he stood.

"and how are you Naruto-kun?"

The boy seemed surprised at the question, but answered all the same.

"yeah I'm ok Kizashi-san, just a little tired"

It was true, the events of the night had finally caught up with him and the bags under his eyes seemed to be more prominent, his eyes were a constant struggle to keep open and he swayed slightly on the spot.

"well then, I suppose we should get you home for some rest" with a friendly smile Kizashi offered his hands to both his wife and Naruto, the former taking it with a slight hesitation, throwing unsure glances at the young boy next to them. 'how can a boy so young make me feel so guilty and yet so reassured' was just one of the thoughts swirling in her emotionally tormented mind. The trio left the council chambers and made their way out into the night's air, it was only a couple of hours till midnight and unsurprisingly they were all a little exhausted. Eventually they arrived at Narutos rundown apartment, during the journey Naruto had begun to fall asleep on the spot, so Kizashi had picked him up and allowed him to fall asleep in his arms. As he was about to climb the steps to the young boy's apartment he was stopped by a gentle hand on his arm. He looked back to see his wife with a determined yet somewhat unsure expression on her face.

"p-pass him to me, I'll take him up myself, alone if you don't mind"

He knew he should trust his wife but the idea of leaving her alone with the very child that she had been trying to get rid of only a few hours earlier unsettled him slightly. He wasn't quite ready to forgive his wife for what she had done; what human being would attempt to harm a child? But he'd already lost one wife, however long it took he knew he would have to forgive her one day, but it was a long road to that point. But all long roads start and finish with a step, he would have to take the first one now.

"ok love, I'll be out here if you need me"

She smiled gratefully and took the young boy in her arms gently, a gentleness she only ever used on her daughter and husband he noted. With another smile and a nod, she climbed the rickety stairs up to the rundown apartment. She hadn't been there before, only knowing its location from seeing the boy walk into it a few times in the past. She glanced down at the boy in her arms, a sad, guilt filled smile on her face. How had she allowed herself to be brought into such a situation? The old her would have never even thought of harming a child, no matter the reason. She had listened to the other members of the councils bad mouthing for so long that she herself had begun to hate the child, it didn't help that her daughter's birth mother had been killed by the nine-tailed demon and so throughout the years she had rapidly sunk into a pit of hate and despair, finding any reason necessary to rid the village of the child most thought of as a demon.

Finally, she reached the battered door of his apartment, no doubt in such a state due to the immense amount of break-ins the child had. She was shocked to find the door unlocked and completely free for anyone to get in, but then she remembered the previous events and came to the conclusion that after being found by those men, 'men **I** sent' she thought guiltily', that he had no chance to lock his door as he was chased from his bed.

Pushing it aside she was further shocked as to find the disgusting condition his apartment had been left in. the floor boards were bare and slightly moldy, the walls were stained with various discoloring that could have come from any number of things and what wallpaper it did have was peeling away. A smell of rotten food and other unpleasantries filled her nostrils and she could only feel the guilt pilling onto her already heavy shoulders. With slow, heavy footsteps she made her way through the damp corridor, the hallway was short and eventually opened up into a small living room to the left with a just as small kitchen to the right. Piles of used and unwashed dishes littered both rooms as well as different items of clothes that had obviously seen better days. A single battered sofa sat against the closest wall with a small wooden coffee table that looked like it had been salvaged from a nearby dump. The only item that seemed to have had any care at all was a single aloe vera plant that seemed to have grown to an unusually large size in the corner of the room. Straight ahead of her was the door to his room that stood slightly ajar. Pushing it open with her shoulder, careful not to hit the boys shoulder, she made her way into the room and was surprised to find it spotlessly clean. The bed was made; what little clothes he had were neatly filed away into a three draw dresser. This room seemed to be the only one with a carpet which was a dark blue and showed obvious signs of cleaning. All in all, it surprised her that out of all the rooms he would keep clean it would be this one.

Gently and with care she pulled back the covers with one hand and placed the boy snuggly beneath its warmth, taking extra care not to wake him. She delicately tucked the blanket around his small frame, much like she would do with her daughter Sakura, but instead of leaving she sat on the edge of his bed and stared at his lightly snoring figure. She still couldn't figure out how just one act from the boy could change her heart so quickly, it was something she simply couldn't explain. Without noticing it until it was too late, she silently began sobbing again, the tears she thought had dried up had come back with force and it didn't show signs of stopping. Images of a life that could have been for the boy flashed through her mind and only cause the tears to intensify until she could barely breath. She never noticed the shift in the blankets or the arms that were around her until it was too late. Two thin arms had wrapped around her body from her front. She couldn't bare the thought of looking up and seeing his face and so she wrapped her arms around him, returning the embrace that was all too needed in the situation. Why couldn't she have seen the real Naruto before? Why had it taken her getting caught and almost being sent away for life to really notice what an amazing child he really was? An extra pair of arms, these ones much larger, embraced the pair as well, these belonging to her husband. He had heard his wife crying from outside and couldn't bare the thought of leaving her alone, not when she was this vulnerable. When he had come into the apartment he had followed the noise of despair and came upon his wife, the image of her sobbing next to a sleeping child would forever be on his mind. He was only young himself, being only twenty-four, but he had seen things in his life that people his age really shouldn't, he had lost his parents to the Kyuubi as well as his dear wife and he had lost friends to attacks on the village. For the first few months after the attack he had been thrown into a deep depression, only ever leaving the house to buy food and groceries. It wasn't until his old school friend Karen had come along to help bring him away from that side of himself that he truly realized what a god send she was, for months she helped care for Sakura, taking care of her needs whilst he tried to get his business back up and running. Eventually, after he had managed to clear his mind and focus on the important things, he had realized that he could never hope of raising Sakura all on his own, so as soon as he could he was out searching for a new wife. Many thought he had tried to move on too quickly, some had even suggested that he never loved his wife in the first place, those people were immediately sent to the hospital with multiple injuries. He searched high and low, constantly going out on dates to try and woo a potential mother figure, but it was all for naught. After that he resigned himself to being a single parent, he would hire someone to run his business for him and he would be the father he needed to be.

That was when he realized he had been looking in all the wrong places, he had come home one night to find Karen sitting by his fireplace with his darling Sakura in her arms, singing her a lullaby that her own mother used to sing to her. So entranced was he by the scene that he stood there for a full hour, never moving an inch for fear of disturbing the warmth that had taken over the room. It would continue like this for some time, he would come back from a hard day's work to find Karen singing to his child or playing with her if he got home early and before long he had fallen for her. At first he was reluctant to approach the subject of love with the woman, she had after all been his best friend and a part of his mind told him that his feelings were wrong and that they betrayed his dear wife's memory. Eventually he couldn't take it anymore and approached her one day after work, once she'd settled Sakura in bed. He had told her of his feelings, both his love and his reluctance. At first he thought he might have scared her away, but before he could apologize for stepping out of line she had crashed her lips against his own and admitted that she too had come to love both him and Sakura and couldn't imagine a world without either of them. They made love for the first time that night, basking in each other's warmth for the first of many times to come. A year later they were married and living together and neither of them could be happier.

Some thought it was a political marriage of sorts, the marriage between a successful businessman and the daughter of a small time merchant. But they put those rumors out of their minds and had been living together peacefully and lovingly for the past six years now. To Karen's joy Sakura's first words had been 'mommy' and she had rejoiced for days on end about it. though after a while she had her own doubts about her capabilities as a mother, she would constantly ask 'how can I raise a child as a good mother when one day she will know she is not my own?', she cried for hours one night about it until he had consoled her, telling her that his late wife would be grateful beyond compare that she had taken her child under her wing and been where she couldn't. life since had been amazing to say the least.

He was brought out of his musings by his wife asking the young boy a question that he could barely hear through her choked sobs.

"w-why do y-you forgive m-me so easily?"

The child in her arms looked up at her with a small smile that sent a warmth through them both. His answer was one neither of them expected, it was simply too grown up and too wise of an answer to of come from a child so young, but then again they supposed that due to his hard life he had been forced to grow up quicker than others in his age group.

"everyone deserves a second chance, what is the use in having a thing such as forgiveness if we never use it?"

Karen only held him tighter, embracing him with as much love as she could, though she knew it would never make up for the things she had done. Eventually Kizashi felt both of them go limp in his arms and was unsurprised to see both of them snoring lightly in a deep sleep. Gently he laid both of them onto the bed and pulled the covers over the pair to keep them both warm throughout the night, he wouldn't disturb them now, not after what the pair had been through. With that in mind he left the pair asleep and made his way through the house towards the door, they had left Sakura at his cousin's house for the night to play with her child so he didn't need to worry about returning home to care for her. Upon opening the door, he came upon the partially shadowed figure of the Hokage leaning over the balcony of the second floor complex, his pipe lit and a calm exterior.

"Hokage-sama, I suppose you're here to check on young Naruto-kun?"

"I am indeed, though I see he is in capable hands"

Kizashi joined him in leaning over the balcony, gazing out into the midnight village. Both were silent for a time before Kizashi spoke again.

"I want to apologize for my wife's behavior Hokage-sama, she let herself be influenced by others and I should have been there to put a stop to it sooner"

The Hokage took a deep puff on his pipe before releasing it slowly into the night air before answering, never turning away from the village scene as he spoke.

"many people were affected by the Kyuubi attack six years ago, the scars of that night run deep and many are unwilling to let old wounds heal. Many people see Naruto as nothing but a reminder of that night and believe that the only way to cure their own hearts is to get rid of the thing that reminds them its broken"

"your wife was the victim of a disease that runs rampant through the body of Konoha, that disease is hate and until Naruto is old enough to prove himself a loyal and dependable member of this village, that disease will continue to rot away at our villages very soul"

The Hokage stood up and began making his way towards the stairway after placing a quick security seal on Naruto's door to protect its two inhabitants. Kizashi followed closely behind as they walked towards the center of Konoha where both their houses were located.

"I believe your wife will be one of just many that will be positively affected by Narutos natural warmth and I believe she will play an important role in turning him into the man he will one day become"

Kizashi nodded in understanding with a smile on his face, his heart filled with confidence and anticipation.

"I believe you are right Hokage-sama"

With that the two separated from each other, both on their way to a peaceful night's slumber.

 **Six months later**

It had been six months since that night and a lot had happened in Narutos life that could only be for the better. The morning after Karin's sentencing she had begun her duties as Narutos carer with a vigor she had not displayed in a long time. She had started with his apartment, spending the majority of the day cleaning and redecorating with the help of her husband, giving the apartment a new lease of life. The rest of the day was spent taking Naruto out shopping for clothes and getting to know him better. At first the people around them stared at them in confusion but those looks quickly turned to hard glares of disgust and hatred mainly aimed at Naruto, but after coming to the conclusion that she was now a 'demon lover' as most would put it, a lot of the glares were centered on herself as well. However, she was still the wife of the head of the Haruno family and she would not put up with any sort of disrespect from her fellow civilians or even a few ninjas. The glares she sent back at them quickly made them glance away nervously, unsure about what the councilwoman would do if they tried to stand against her. The rest of the day she found surprisingly joyful, thanks to Narutos constant laughter and energy she couldn't help but find it all contagious and on more than one occasion she would find herself smiling and laughing alongside him.

Karen's journey towards repaying the boy for his forgiveness however would hit a rocky road on a rare occasion where she would catch herself before she said something terrible to him out of habit or she would find herself wondering whether or not he truly was a demon, but in the end she always came back to what he said that night and would find herself shaking her head in disappointment and shame before going right back to sharing his smiles.

Arata's meeting with Naruto was postponed in order to let Naruto adjust to his new relationship with his new carer and so it wasn't until a week later that they actually met again. Arata and Hiruzen had explained to Naruto that Arata would be teaching him for the next nine years in ways of defending himself from threats and learning how to protect those important to him. Naruto's shouts of joy could be heard throughout the village and caused more than a few heads to turn. For months afterwards Naruto was put some of the most grueling training in his life. Every morning he was expected to run several laps of his apartment complex followed by a multitude of pushups and sit ups, once he was finished he was allowed to have breakfast, which to his quite vocal upset wasn't ramen. When the afternoon came round Arata would run him through different meditation methods, trying to find the one that suited him most, Arata realized how difficult his attempts at training Naruto would be when he saw just how restless the boy was, being unable to sit still for more than five seconds before bouncing around again. After several attempts at meditation the pair would then move on to taijutsu, as Naruto was still quite young he hadn't had any form of extensive training in the area, which suited Arata just fine as the type of training he had in mind could only be taught to a fresh mind and not one that is restricted to the training they'd already received. Before leaving for their homes Naruto would perform more laps of his apartment complex followed by another round of pushups and sit ups.

When the two separated for the night, Naruto would come home to find Karin already there with his food for the night prepared. In their time together they had grown closer than any thought possible, most would look upon the pair and could almost believe they were looking at mother and son, except for the obvious visual difference between the pair. Karin herself couldn't believe just how much she had been affect by the boy and had become the first to jump to his defence in times of ridicule. As per her sentencing, she would come to his apartment every morning to prepare breakfast and get him ready for his training. During his time away she would stay behind for a while to make sure everything was clean and put away before going home to look after Sakura. Explaining to Sakura that she'd have to share her kaa-san had been an interesting time, the little girl had demanded to know why the 'village idiot' as she'd put it, needed her mother as well, she had been instantly scolded for referring to Naruto in such a way and had even been told to treat him better at school or she would be punished. Reluctantly she had given Naruto a chance, though it was a bit rocky at first the two children had eventually come to find a sort of companionship in each other, though she would still berate him if he got into a confrontation with 'her Sasuke-kun'. By the end of the six months Narutos training had come on in leaps and bounds, his strength had improved tremendously and to the relief of Arata, he had finally been able to sit for more than five minutes in meditation, although It still wasn't a long time, it was longer than when they had started.

Across the village at training ground seven, Naruto and Arata were in the middle of a spar while Karin and Sakura watched on from a picnic blanket. Although he had improved, Naruto was still nowhere near Arata's level and it showed in their spars.

Naruto was trying his best to get past Arata's defense by moving as quickly as he could, moving in a flurry of movements Naruto brought his fist towards Arata in a jab quickly followed by an attempted upper cut. Arata blocked both moves with the palms of his hands before swinging his leg round in a kick that connected with Narutos chest sending him flying backwards onto his back with a cry. Naruto laid there breathing heavily while Arata stood barely affected at all. Groaning slightly Naruto sat up on his knees, sweat dripping from his forehead. Arata came over and helped him up giving him a soft pat on the head and a smile.

"you're doing great Naruto, by the time I've finished with you, you'll be able to give most Jounin a run for their money"

Naruto loved being complimented by his sensei, he'd always craved someone's approval and now that he had it, he couldn't get enough of it. the duo made their way over to Karin and Sakura and joined them at their picnic. Karin had become interested in Naruto's training as he had always been too tired to talk about it when he came home, she had also become interested in just who was training him as she had become somewhat protective over him. She smiled at the both of them as they sat down with them and offered both of them a bento box each to recover some energy. She was surprised when Sakura got up and moved closer to Naruto to eat with him, both of them smiling at each other in a way only the closest of friends would. She couldn't have been happier when they had become friends, it was a slow process but now they were practically inseparable, a couple of the mums at the academy had told her that on more than one occasion Sakura had been seen beating up bullies that would pick on him and had even berated her other friend Ino when she had tried to mock him. Altogether she was one happy mother.

"Arata-sensei, what else will I be learning?" so far Naruto had only been told the very basics of what he'd be learning and over the months he had become more and more curious.

Arata seemed to ponder on an answer for a couple of seconds before clearing his throat and taking out a small red scroll out of his robe. Placing it on the floor between them and rolling it out, it revealed a strange sort of seal with the kanji for 'silence' on it. when Arata placed his hand on the scroll and channeled a small amount of chakra into it, a red dome appeared around the four which only drew questioning gazes in his direction, seeing the gazes he decided to elaborate.

"this dome prevents anyone from hearing our conversation and also places a genjutsu on us that prevents lip reading, it also blurs out anything I may show you, it was created by a friend and can be used an unlimited amount of times"

The others seemed to nod in understanding though Naruto was a little more hesitant as he didn't know all that much about seals and genjutsu.

"what I'm about to tell you Naruto cannot be revealed to anyone else, only the Hokage and I know about it and I'm only letting Sakura-chan and Karin-san in on it because you trust them"

He pulled a second scroll out of his rob which was a dark, forest green and bound in dark leather. He placed it next to the other scroll and rolled it out as well. This time it revealed three images, the first was a strange red cross with each side slightly inverted, the second was a black, double sided battle axe and the third and final image was an image of a pair of wings. The images only proved to confuse the others around them more and made it visual with the looks they gave him.

"this scroll was discovered thousands of years ago by a group of traveling monks inside a cave within the mountains of fire country, alongside it was various other scrolls that gave incredibly in depth instructions on how to use a strange energy source that could replace chakra, this power source was said to have been used before even the age of the sage of six paths and could be used to do incredibly powerful things. After years of study, the monks were finally able to unlock this new source and attempted to unlock the contents of this scroll, it was said that inside it was an ability that could only be used by this new energy source and could only be used by one person and then once that person died, another could use it"

"did they find out what it was?"

"yes Naruto they did, and there have been many people since then that have been able to use what is inside, though it hasn't been used since it's last user, which happened to of been my father"

Karin looked up at this with intrigue.

"your father Arata-san? Then how come you don't use it?"

"yes my father, it was for this reason that my uncle killed him in his virus induced sleep and not on the open battlefield"

Arata had already told the others about his clan's fait but had left out details on Narutos father by the Hokages request. It was still difficult to talk about but it seemed to get easier with time.

"and the reason I don't use it is because I was never able to unlock this other energy source even though I went through years of extensive training to try and acquire it, my father assumed it was because there was too little of it inside my body to unlock"

That was understandable to Karin, there were a lot of people throughout the world that simply had too little chakra to call upon and so it was reasonable to assume that the same happened with this new source of power, though she was still intrigued to find out more about this ancient, and from what she could gather, powerful ability.

"so what does this ability do? It must be pretty powerful if only one person can use it at a time"

"this scroll stores an ability that allows a person to transform into, and control, three different types of warrior spirit, each one with its own unique abilities"

Narutos eyes widened at the implications of such an ability and the excitement at the thought of using it grew within him until he couldn't stay quiet any longer.

"that's so cool! What types of warriors are they!?" the others could practically feel the excitement rolling off of him and could only smile in amusement at his childish wonder.

"the first time I saw my father use it was during a trip to rock country, we were attacked by a group of bandits that were armed to the teeth. When my father's men went to intercept them, my father told them to stand back and protect his family while he dealt with them, at first I thought the looks the men gave were of disappointment but later I realized that they were in fact looks of pity for the bandits that my father was about to face"

Naruto could barely contain himself and it showed by his constant fidgeting which was quickly getting on Sakura's nerves, although she couldn't help but admit that she too was excited at the thought of what happened next.

"the next thing I know there's a bright light and where my father previously stood, in his place now stood an armored figure with a long sword and a shield, he had this strange red cross on his armor and shield that I couldn't identify. He raised his sword in an unfamiliar stance and charged the men at a speed that could not be traced by the human eye, within seconds the bandits were dead, completely slaughtered without being given the chance to defend themselves"

The others listened on in awe, the story captivating them completely. So far they had only learnt about the first warrior spirit and it sounded impressive all on its own.

"the second time he used it, we were out hunting in the mountains of iron country, I was still young and he was teaching me to hunt. Around noon, I managed to track down male deer, its antlers were like a fine art with the way they curved and came to a point. I'll never forget when I took it down with one shot, my father said it was the most perfect shot he'd ever seen a child of my age make"

He trailed of slightly and the look in his eyes was a look of reminiscence, as if he was imagining being right back there after taking that perfect shot. He shook away the feeling and continued with his story.

"we were in the middle of preparing the deer to be taken back to our lodge when a loud, purely animalistic growl came from behind us. When we turned around we saw the biggest grizzly either of us had ever seen, it easily stood over my father by at least another five feet. Before we could do anything it charged and went straight for me. My father pushed me away and ran to intercept the beast, when I saw the light of his ability I was expecting the same armored figure… I had never been more wrong. The light surrounding my father simply grew and grew until it was as tall as the tallest trees, when it faded it was replaced by a gigantic warrior of epic proportions, it had leather arm guards covered in spikes that came from its hands to its shoulders, large iron leg guards which split off into two sharp claws at the end of its feet, its waist was covered by a leather material, its torso covered by an iron plate with the carving of a ram on it that started at its pelvis and finished just beneath its chest leaving its chest bare to the elements, upon its head sat a helmet that completely covered its face apart from two eye holes, two long horn like spikes came from both sides of the helmet. But what was truly terrifying was the gigantic double sided battle axe that it carried in its right hand, it was easily half the height of the giant"

An image of a truly terrifying beast flashed through the groups mind and the girls could only flinch in slight fear whilst Naruto listened on in wonder, the thought of one day transforming into such a beast riddling his young mind.

"my father's new form made him look like a monster and yet with his beastly form he produced an aura of completely encompassing warmth"

He didn't need to finish the story, it was quite obvious to the others what happened next and the thought of it was frightening, a being of such power could cause terrible things if given to the wrong hands.

"what about the third form Arata-sensei?"

"ah now that is the only form I have no knowledge of, my father said he had never been able to access this form even with years of training"

Narutos shoulders slumped slightly at his answer and his visual pout was an amusing site. Karen was intrigued by the idea of such a power and was proud beyond belief that Naruto would be the one to wield it and so as his guardian she decided it was her job to make sure that he would be safe doing so.

"Arata-san, will Naruto be safe using this power? I don't want him getting hurt"

Arata chuckled slightly at her worry, a small smile etched on his face as he tried to find the best way possible to calm the overprotective woman.

"Narutos journey to this power will be hard and full of trials, his heart, mind and soul will be tested to their limits in a bid to find his worthiness to wield such an immense power, though I assure you I will protect him as best I can from harm"

She seemed to relax slightly although the worry was still there, she could only hope that Naruto would come out of this training the same, go happy child, that he had always been. Naruto himself was eager to continue his training and was visually restless where he sat.

Arata stood from the blanket and straightened out his clothing before addressing Naruto again.

"well Naruto, we have a long road ahead of us, so let's get busy"

 **Three years later, aged nine.**

And so the pair continued for the next three years, constantly training Narutos body in preparation for gaining his first warrior form. Within the academy his grades and abilities sky rocketed much to the surprise and in some cases resentment of his teachers and fellow students, his standing in the academy went from dead last to pushing for the top, and he had yet to access his first form. His ninja abilities had been improved beyond measure and his outlook on education had changed into a thirst for knowledge, he still wasn't the smartest of children but compared to how he had been before his training it was a massive step.

It was Friday afternoon and Narutos class had just been called out into the academy training grounds for an end of week spar. Naruto had always been kept out of these spars as all his previous teachers had kicked him out, saying that a 'demon' didn't need to learn how to fight. However today his favorite teacher Iruka was taking the class and for once he'd finally have a chance at showing his stuff.

The other kids went first, there fights being expected, the fan girls lost to the more serious civilians and the civilians lost to the better trained clan heirs, it was the same as it had always been, never once being any different, until today.

Iruka looked over his list of students until he came to the last two on his list, Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha. He dreaded calling out the fight, he knew Naruto had improved astonishingly over the years but there was still the underlining fear of him being defeated and embarrassed in front of his classmates… again. But he knew he couldn't play favorites and so with a heavy heart he called out the next match.

"final match, Naruto Uzumaki against Sasuke Uchiha"

Cries of adoration flowed through the crowed for the Uchiha while looks of pity and amusement were given to the young Uzumaki, everyone already knew the outcome, it would be the same as all the times before, imagine their surprise when Naruto made his way to the sparring ring without a sound, assuming a stance they had not seen the boy use before, nor could they identify it. His right fist came up to just below his chin, his left hand palm facing his enemy at arm's length, both feet sat firmly apart at shoulder width, a serious expression on his face. His fellow classmates watched on in interest while his opponent only sneered condescendingly at him, his Uchiha arrogance flowing from him.

"what's this dobe? You steel a ninja scroll or something?" chuckles of amusement ran through the class but Naruto stood firm, strong in his belief that for once he stood a chance.

When Sasuke didn't get a response he turned angry and scowled at the supposed dead last, the thought of being ignored by him off all people made his blood boil.

"don't ignore me dobe, I asked you a question"

Naruto just sighed before answering in an almost bored tone.

"are you going to keep talking like an old woman, or are we going to fight?"

His jab seemed to get the right response as the Uchiha settled into the academy style taijutsu with only barely contained rage. Iruka observed both fighters before bringing his hand down in a chopping motion.

"begin!"

The Uchiha rushed forward intent on putting the dead last in his place whilst Naruto stood calm and resolute. Within seconds the Uchiha was on him, a jab aimed at his head with the intent on ending the fight quickly. Naruto responded by shifting his left hand into the fists flight path, catching it instantly and with the barest of movements before swinging his right leg round into a high kick that forced the Uchiha to jump back. Capitalizing on the Uchiha's loss of stance, Naruto dashed forward and engaged in close range combat that put Sasuke on the defensive, his punches were fast and strong whilst his kicks were no more than a blur. The watching crowd could only watch in awe as the supposed academy dead last forced the villages priced Uchiha into a one sided fight, never giving him a chance to retaliate.

Sasuke was visibly sweating at this point, no one had ever put up such a fight against him, for the first time in his academy life he was afraid he would lose. His loss of concentration only proved to be his downfall as Naruto managed to duck under his guard and deliver a devastating uppercut to his jaw sending him flying out of the ring with a thud.

Silence reigned over the crowd as they watched in barely contained awe as the class's top rookie was defeated spectacularly. Iruka could only smile in pride as Naruto stood from his stance before bowing to his fellow students and made his way to the back of the line.

"winner, Naruto Uzumaki!"

The declaration seemed to snap the crowd of children out of their mute shock as various fangirls screamed in horror and raced over to help 'their Sasuke-kun' whilst the boys in the group cheered in elation at Sasuke finally being knocked down a peg or two.

Naruto watched in silent pride and amusement as the Uchiha struggled to stand to his feat whilst batting away the hands of his personal stalkers. He glared hatefully at Naruto which was mimicked by various fan girls/stalkers, the main one being Ino Yamanaka who was a devoted fan who would gladly lick his boots if asked to. Naruto looked to his left when he heard the sound of footsteps approaching and was surprised to see his best friend Sakura approaching him with a neutral expression on her face.

' _oh great'_ he thought _'she'll probably hate me for this'_

To his great confusion though, instead of the beating he was waiting for, he instead received a wide smile and a loving hug that kept him frozen in place. Various thoughts ran through his head, the main one being a strange voice constantly shouting _'it's a trap!'_ over and over again. Finally, when all seemed safe, he returned the hug and took advantage of the warmth that it gave him for as long as possible. Eventually, much to his sadness, she pulled away with that ever present smile, eventually he couldn't take it and so risked it all by enquiring about the sudden friendliness, given the situation.

"umm Sakura-chan, why aren't you mad?"

She seemed to smile even brighter at him before punching him playfully in the arm.

"you monkey head; I've been waiting for this day for about a year now"

The people around her, Naruto included, only stared at her in confusion and surprise, the most surprised being Ino who decided to voice her opinion in that arrogant, ridiculous way Sasuke fan girls tend to.

"hey forehead, what do you mean you've been waiting for this day? Why would you want Sasuke-kun hurt!?"

Tick marks seemed to appear all over Sakura's forehead before she seemed to put a lot of visual and mental strain into calming down. Turning to her once love rival she replied in the calmest way she could.

"well Ino-pig" I said she was calm, I never said she wasn't upset "I happen to of gotten over my pointless Sasuke infatuation a year ago, it was pointed out to me by my mother and Naruto's sensei, although trust me it wasn't easy for them, that it was a pointless thing that only got in the way of my training, the fact that he enjoys bullying my brother just makes me dislike him even more"

Sakura has a brother? That was news to them.

"since when do you have a brother forehead? I thought you were an only child?"

The smirk that appeared on Sakura's face was there for all to see and the following words would change academy life forever.

"why Naruto Uzumaki of course"

The crowd gasped in surprise whilst Sakura smiled in amusement. The thought of the once desperate fan girl actually admitting that someone like Naruto was her brother and that she was in fact no longer a fan girl would change the status quo of the school forever.

Sakura turned slightly when she felt a hand on her shoulder, turning completely around she saw that it was Naruto himself with a hopeful look on his face.

"d-do you mean it S-Sakura? Did Kaa-san actually do it like she said?" his look of hope turned to elation when she gave him a nod and a bright smile.

"yep! Kaa-san and Tou-san signed the papers earlier, that's what I came to tell you!"

He had wondered why she hadn't come in today and now it was all too clear. It had finally happened, he finally had a family and on the day he beat Sasuke too! He had taken to calling Karen, Kaa-san, a couple of years ago much to her joy and had called her it since. Today would be a day he would never forget, he now had a mother and sister who loved him and a sensei who would train him to kick ass!

Smiling brightly, he swept Sakura of her feat in a tight embrace whilst jumping around for joy, much to her amusement. A brief cough of attention, with a strong hint of annoyance, brought them out of their joy as they were redirected back to the fuming fangirls and amused teacher who watched the whole thing from a distance, ready to jump in if need be.

"so what if you adopted the 'dead last' forehead? He'll still be second best to our Sasuke-kun"

When it seemed like Sakura would literally strangle the girl, Naruto put a restraining hand on her shoulder and gave her a calming smile, but Sakura saw a brief flash behind those eyes that was always present when he was feeling mischievous and so with an understanding nod she pulled herself behind him and proceeded to watch the show.

Naruto turned to Ino with the same smile and took delight in her look of discomfort.

"let me ask you something Ino, if you were to describe me, I'm guessing you would call me things like, dead last, useless, untalented and among other things stupid, correct?"

Ino's look of arrogance returned full force as she stared defiantly into his eyes.

"got it in one dead last"

That same glint from before swam through his eyes but it only went noticed by the more observant members of the class, however the devious smile that graced his face was definitely noticeable and it only confused Ino and her group.

"well if that's the case, what does that make Sasuke now that I've beaten him?"

Sudden realization hit the group of fan girls hard as they looked in horror at the Uzumaki before cries of outrage sprang from the group.

The rest of the class burst out into laughter along with Naruto and Sakura who walked away in victory back to their home. _'our home'_ Naruto thought with a smile _'I never thought I'd say it'._

The walk home was a time of joy and pure unrivalled happiness for Naruto and his now official sister, not even the glares from the civilians could dampen their spirits.

"hey Sakura? why didn't Tou-san and Kaa-san come to tell me?"

"oh, well Tou-san had a council meeting and Kaa-san had a meeting with the Inuzuka clan she had to attend, they wanted to wait till tonight to tell you but I asked If I could tell you myself"

The pair shared a bright smile before continuing on their way, life seemed to be looking up for Naruto and he'd never felt closer to the girl he was walking with than he did right now.

The spar between the academy dead last and the Uchiha pride became common knowledge throughout the village and soon enough it was the talk of the town. Some called the rumors blatant lies whilst others blamed the Uchiha's defeat on 'unholy demon powers'. When news of Naruto's adoption became public knowledge the village was in uproar, the very thought of someone caring for him was a disturbing and sickening feeling to many whilst to his very few friends it was a welcome change. Soon enough those feelings turned to outrage and Naruto and his new family were targeted by mobs of people whenever they were seen in public and yet neither Karen, Kizashi nor Sakura ever regretted the decision and only strode towards giving him a better future. After a while the attacks became so frequent that Hiruzen was forced to make a decision.

Naruto, Sakura, Kizashi and Karen were seated in front of both the shinobi and civilian council as the Hokage had brought them in for one of their meetings. The old man himself sat at the center of the long table with a calculating look on his face, mainly aimed at the civilian half. He had a suspicion as to how they would react to his decision, but slowly over the years he had managed to deprive them of the power they had stolen away from him. Now, any decision he made today would be made without the interference of the civilians, though he knew that wouldn't stop them from being a pain in his neck.

"I realize you were all expecting this to be a normal run of the mill meeting, however, a rather important situation has been brought to my attention"

A few of the councilors were already aware of the situation he was referring to, the family sat before them was evidence enough. Though it was obvious which side was on their side when one looked upon the angry glares of the civilians and the understanding gazes of the shinobi.

"it has come to my attention that a great deal of the civilian populace and a small portion of the shinobi forces, disagree with young Naruto being adopted into the Haruno clan, and have taken to violent action in showing their disagreement, this is obviously unacceptable and must be dealt with"

Nods of agreement met him from the shinobi whilst a good majority of the civilians seemed upset at the prospect of no longer being able to deal with the pest _their_ way.

"I have come to the decision that the Haruno clan will be offered a new clan grounds in the shinobi district of the village where they will be protected around the clock by a team of my personal Anbu"

The civilians erupted into outrage whilst the shinobi seemed pleased with the idea, the Haruno clan was as close to a shinobi clan as the civilian populace had and had produced a great many shinobi in previous years, they had always been seen as equals even by the more prominent clans such as the Hyuga who had a great many dealings with the merchant side of the clan.

The most pleased of them all however was the Haruno family itself that looked at each other with bright smiles and looks of excitement.

With a slam of his fist Hiruzen brought the hole room silent and when some of the more pompous civilians tried to continue a brief flash of killer intent was enough to silence them.

"I didn't tell you so that we could debate this, I informed you simply out of professional courtesy, this plan **will** be put forth and it **will not** be interfered with, am I understood?"

The civilians reluctantly nodded whilst the shinobi clan heads looked on with ill hidden amusement.

"right, now that that is dealt with, Kizashi-san how do you feel about this plan?"

The man in question stood from his seat with a look of absolute glee that made a few people chuckle.

"you'll have no argument from me Hokage-sama, I can have the clan ready to move by tomorrow afternoon"

The Hokage smiled for the first time that night and dismissed the family from the room with a wave of his hand.

"well then I guess you better get started, off you go I'll have an Anbu inform you of your new homes location"

With a bow and a smile, the family turned away from the council and made their way happily back to their clan grounds. The Haruno clan wasn't large, only consisting of around fifty members, a large portion being merchants and shopkeepers whilst the other, smaller, portion was made up of shinobi. The clan didn't have a blood line or any form of secret clan techniques and so weren't looked upon as a shinobi clan, however, with the new arrangements the Haruno clan could proudly present themselves amongst their sister clans amongst the shinobi populace and as a result would be looked upon with a higher level of respect.

The next day came around quickly and the Haruno clan soon found themselves being escorted to the clan districts by a squad of Anbu, it hadn't taken long to organize a full scale move, when the plan to move was presented to the clan, Kizashi was surprised to find no form of resistance and in fact found a good deal of excitement radiated from his fellow clansmen. The clan was met with angry glares as they marched through the streets but the clan paid them no mind, they were happy and knew they were safe from harm. The new clan grounds were located between the Aburame and Nara clans, these two clans being their strongest of supporters were more likely to help in their defense than say, the Hyuga clan, who with enough political and social pressure could easily turn against them.

Naruto and Sakura could barely contain their excitement as the forests that surrounded the clan grounds came into view. Each clan had some form of natural defense against spies and because of their new status they were no different, the forest surrounding the grounds acted as a form of defense against prying eyes without giving the impression of being isolated from their fellow clans. Their path eventually lead them to a gap in the trees and the ground soon turned rocky and uncared for, with slight difficulty they eventually came upon a large white wall that stood around twenty feet high and wrapped around the edge of the clearing to form a large square barrier, a large metal gate with two empty guard houses sat directly in front of them and through the bars they could see rows upon rows of empty houses that looked as though they had been abandoned for some time. Within the distance, the group could make out a large three story red painted house that stood raised on a natural platform at the far end of the complex, it was safe to assume that this was for the head of the clan and their family.

Naruto and Sakura looked on in awe and pure childlike wonder as they examined their new home, the thought of exploring the place was so strong that they nearly didn't notice the familiar figure that stood waiting for them with a smile on his face.

"Jii-san!" they cried in unison, both running over to embrace their grandfather figure. When Naruto had originally told her it was ok to call the Hokage that, she had been reluctant and had needed a lot of persuasion to do so, after all, you can't just go round calling the most powerful ninja in the village that can you? But after being told it was ok by the man himself she had taken to it easily and had begun to look up to him in a more familiar light.

The old man smiled and chuckled slightly as he embraced the children lovingly, he had been rather pleased when little Sakura had begun to open up to him, he had always had a soft spot for the children of the village and would protect them with his life, no matter what.

"good afternoon Sakura-chan, Naruto-kun, how are you today?"

The pair smiled brightly as they informed the Hokage of all the things they'd done that day and had even gone on to describe just how excited they were about moving into their new home.

He listened intently as they reeled of the day's events so far and couldn't help but feel reassured with his decisions, more so his decision to allow Naruto to be adopted into the clan, he knew from various contacts that the Haruno clan had accepted Naruto with open arms when he was first introduced, apparently they held no ill will towards him being a Jinchuriki and had basked him in as much love as they could produce.

Eventually the rest of the clan caught up with the hyperactive pair and Kizashi and Karen approached with amused smiles on their faces, obviously delighted to see their children getting on so well.

"I hope you're not bugging the Hokage you two?"

The two had the sense to look sheepish as their mother berated them good heartedly whilst Kizashi approached the Hokage.

"it is a pleasure to see you again Hokage-sama" he said with a slight bow which was returned by his powerful leader.

"the pleasure is all mine Kizashi-san, I thought it would be prudent to give you as much information about these clan grounds as possible before you moved in"

The Hokage reached into his robe and pulled out a small scroll that he presented to the clan leader, it was revealed to be a confirmation of ownership scroll that all clans must have when they move into a new ground as to prevent any legal problems from coming up in the future.

"these clan grounds were once owned by my own clan, the Sarutobi clan, long ago. However, with my clan now only consisting of myself, my son, my daughter and my grandson and with my son having no interest in leading the clan, we now longer have any use for them"

Kizashi's eyes widened by a large amount as the Hokage removed a slightly bigger scroll from his robe that when rolled out revealed a small scale blueprint of the area around them.

"its total size allows for a clan five times your size and so will allow for any future growths in size you may have, included in the grounds are three training grounds, a small farming area and an independent water source, its position allows for easy defense and the Nara and Inuzuka clans have agreed to provide a small unit of shinobi to help provide security until your clan provides more shinobi for its own defense"

Kizashi and the rest of the clan could barely get any words out as the amazement of the situation had left them all but mute, their silence was eventually broken when a rather happy blonde began jumping up and down excitedly giving out loud cries of elation.

"yahoo! We're gonna be the best damn clan this village has ever seen!"

His happiness was soon brought to a standstill as his mother appeared at his side bashing him lightly over the head with an unamused scowl on her face.

"Naruto Uzumaki Haruno watch your language!"

The rest of the clan laughed happily at the indignant pout on the young boys face and soon found themselves being let through the gates into their new home. The prospect of a better future brought happiness throughout the clan as their dreams of a better life had finally come around and all thanks to a certain blond haired blue eyed boy who had landed with quite the crash into their lives and so with happy smiles the Haruno clan moved onto a better future, a Haruno future.

 **A/N: I will post pictures onto my account that will show everyone what the two warrior souls mentioned actually look like when used, I'll leave the third one out until later on in the story when he actually gains access to it I hope this will help you picture them as I progress through the story :) oh and I don't actually own the pictures I just found them on google, so who ever does own them if you are reading this, however unlikely it is, I hope you don't mind me using them :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

 **Premonition**

 **A/N: well here's another chapter for you, just a pre warning for you before you start, I will be involving the Gennin exam in this chapter and to be honest I don't remember exactly how it went in the series so it may differ slightly from what actually happens but I hope that's not too much of a problem, I tend to find that stories that follow the tv series/manga stubbornly can get a bit repetitive and boring anyway so hopefully this proves to be more interesting for you. Also this will be my longest chapter yet so I hope you enjoy it :) Review please! :)**

 **Naruto age 12**

Fire, an all-encompassing creature of destruction that spread as far and wide as his eyes could see. Buildings burnt and collapsed, corpses turned to ash and the screams of the living presented a hellish scene for Naruto. His breathing became heavy and the ash in the air caused his eyes to water, a pained moan caused him to spin around amongst the rubble of the building he stood in, there laying amongst the rubble that covered the main street of Konoha, laid dozens of civilians and shinobi that he'd seen around the village. Hot panic raced through his veins as he tried to move away from the image, he took one then two then three steps back before he felt a hand grab his leg, looking down he saw the face of the Hokage, dirty and bloodied gasping out in pain.

"N-no no no no **NO!** "

"Naruto! Wake up Naruto! Naruto!"

Waking up in fright he threw himself up in his double bed, hot sweat covered his entire body as his breathes came out heavy and full of panic. A pair of arms surrounded him in an instant and pulled him into a calming embrace, a soft voice shushing him into silence.

"it's ok Naruto, its ok, I'm here it was just a nightmare"

He leant back into the arms of his mother, taking full advantage of the warmth she provided and the voice that rid him of his fears.

"it was so scary Kaa-san, everything was burning, people were dying, I even saw Jii-san dying, I-I didn't know what to do!"

"shhh, it's over now don't worry, it's all over now, it was just a dream"

His shivering calmed down and his body seemed to return to normal. Karen had heard his screams from across the hall and had sprinted across to find him throwing himself about in his sleep, a look of sheer terror that had set her own panic ablaze.

"it felt so real Kaa-san, I've had nightmares before, too many to count, but this, this was something different, something evil"

'could the nine tails be doing this?' she couldn't help but think, of course she could never say it out loud, it had been agreed that until Naruto was of Chunin rank or sixteen years of age, which ever came first, he would never be told of his curse.

"well its gone now Naruto-kun, if it makes you feel any better we can go see the Hokage and see what he thinks ok?"

"ok"

She smiled sweetly at him, giving him a kiss on the head and a good night wish before making her way to the door. She was stopped suddenly by her son's voice.

"Kaa-san?"

She turned to see him looking up at her almost fearfully and unsure, it further added to the strain on her heart.

"yes Naruto-kun?"

He looked down at his hands for a second before looking back up, hope refilling his azure eyes.

"c-can you stay here tonight? I d-don't want to be left alone"

She gave him a small smile before approaching his bed side, she lifted the blankets and crawled up next to him wrapping her arms in a loving embrace around his waist.

"of course Naruto-kun, I'll always be here when you need me"

She felt him shift slightly to get comfortable before he spoke again, this time in an uncertain whisper.

"promise?"

Her breath caught slightly, the thought that he was so used to people leaving him that he almost expected it, even from someone he considered a mother caused a silent tear to roll down her cheek, going unnoticed by the boy in her arms.

"I promise"

She could hear him sigh in relief and it made her happy that just simple words from her could bring a calming effect to him.

"I love you Kaa-san"

She smiled widely and couldn't help the feeling of joy that took over her previous ache and panic.

"I love you too Naruto-kun, my sweet, sweet boy"

She tightened her hold on him ever so slightly before both mother and son drifted off into a dreamless sleep. Unknown to both of them, a pair of large red, slit eyes emerged from behind a set of towering prison bars within the darkness of Narutos subconscious.

" **well this is interesting"** was all that was said before they disappeared again into the darkness.

The light of day shone through the windows of Narutos bedroom hitting Karen straight in the face, rousing her out of her slumber. Groggily she opened her eyes to take a look around the familiar room, eventually the events of last night caught up to her and her lips dipped into a slight frown. It wasn't the first night that she had to come to his room to find him suffering from a nightmare, but never before had it been one so intense as the one he had last night. Slowly, as to not wake the sleeping boy, she raised herself up and brought her feet round and onto the carpeted floor. With a frustrated sigh she stood to her feet and made her way towards her own room where her husband should still be sleeping, the sun had not long been up and by the look of the clock in the hallway it had only just gone seven o'clock. She opened her door and just as she thought he would be; her husband lay under the covers hugging a pillow to himself snoring lightly. She had to giggle slightly at the scene, he had always been a hugger. With quiet steps she brought herself round to sit on his side of the bed, she felt slightly guilty about having to wake him up, but the events of last night needed to be discussed.

With gentle movements she shook his shoulder slightly whilst calling out his name in the hopes of bringing him out of his sleep gently.

"Kizashi-kun wake up"

He shifted slightly before rolling over to face her with bleary eyes, unfocused in the early morning light.

In a raspy voice he answered her in a confused tone.

"Karen-hime? What's wrong?"

She blushed slightly at his nickname for her, it always managed to turn her read in the face even after all their years of marriage.

"it's about Naruto-kun"

Immediately he was up and awake, all notions of sleep completely gone as he look at her with a sense of urgency and fatherly protection.

"what? What is it? is he ok?"

She chuckled to herself before placing a calming hand on his chest letting him know that there was no immediate danger to his son's safety. He seemed to relax in to her touch and laid back onto the head board of the bed with a relieved sigh, she loved that with just a touch of her hand she could bring him calm, it had always been something that she loved about their relationship.

"don't worry he's fine, he just…"

She hesitated slightly, not sure how to start a conversation about the Kyuubi of all things. He seemed to pick up on her reluctance and his face softened even further, if that was at all possible given his normal loving and carefree expression.

"it's about ' _it'_ isn't it?"

She nodded slightly before taking a deep breath and looking up at him. He hated having to discuss the monster that resided in her loving son's body, but she knew that if she was going to get him any help at all then she had to swallow all her feelings and get straight to the point.

"I'm afraid it might be interfering with Narutos sleep"

When he looked at her in a way that let her know he was listening she continued on, more reassured this time.

"last night after you went to sleep I heard Naruto screaming out in his sleep, when I got to his room I found him thrashing around in his bed and when I tried to wake him up he was sweating and felt feverish, he kept shouting 'no' over and over again until I managed to calm him down"

A look of worry and dread swept over Kizashi's features before he schooled himself just as quickly and asked the question he wasn't sure he wanted an answer to.

"what did he dream about?"

Karen seemed to hesitate slightly before taking another deep breath to calm herself.

"Konoha, he dreamt of Konoha burning and people dying"

All blood drained from his face and his eyes widened in shock.

"oh Kami, he must have dreamt about the night the Kyuubi attacked"

She shook her head slightly with a contemplative look on her face. He caught the look and gently asked her what was wrong.

"well it's just, I don't think it really was that night he dreamt of, something he said has been bothering me since I woke up"

"what?"

"well, he said he saw lord third dying, but obviously the third didn't die that night, lord fourth did, and if the Kyuubi really wanted to be accurate, wouldn't he of shown the fourth dying instead?"

That seemed to make Kizashi wonder as well, he too had to admit that it was slightly strange, coming to a decision he got off the bed and made his way to his wardrobe.

"Kizashi-kun what are you doing?"

He paused for a second to give her a worried glance over his shoulder before continuing with his search for his clothing.

"get dressed Karen-hime, we're going to take Naruto-kun to the third so that he can check the seal"

Nodding urgently, she moved across the hall to Narutos room to wake him and then across to Sakura's room to do the same. Minutes later a fully dress Haruno family exited the main house before making their way down to the main gate where the now fully implemented Haruno clan shinobi and kunoichi stood guard.

Passing through the main area of the compound the family was greeted with friendly waves and respectful bows which were returned graciously with either a wave of the hand or a slight nod of the head.

"where are we going so early Kaa-chan?" a tired Naruto asked as he walked beside his sister behind his parents.

"well first we're going to drop Sakura-chan off at the academy and then us three are going to visit Hokage-sama for a little bit"

"oh ok"

The group eventually made it to the main gate where four ninja guards stood within the guard houses, two shinobi and two kunoichi. Upon seeing who was approaching the guards immediately stood to attention and gave a well-practiced bow to the clan head and his family.

"how can we be of service Kizashi-sama?" one of the Kunoichi asked that Naruto instantly recognized as a woman named Akane Haruno a distant cousin of his, who as the name suggested, had brilliant red eyes as well as long brown hair that she tied in a bun, she was deathly loyal to her family and would often volunteer to escort both Naruto and Sakura around the village whenever they need to travel away from the compound. She stood at around five foot, five inches and wore a typical female Jounin uniform consisting of a pair of black ninja trousers, top and sandals as well as the often seen green Jounin flak jacket with her hitai-ate wrapped around her forehead.

"myself and my family will be dropping off Sakura-chan at the academy and then going to visit lord third, we require an escort, as you know we aren't entirely popular amongst the populace at the minute, even after all these years there are a select few that still wish us harm"

"of course Kizashi-sama, I'll see to it myself" she said in reply, obviously the officer of the group.

With a snap of her fingers another group of four ninja arrived, this time all shinobi, and surrounded the family.

"you are to escort Kizashi-sama and his family to where ever they need to go, you are to make sure they are looked after at all times and never out of sight, understood?"

"yes Akane-san!" the replied in unison.

With a thankful nod of his head Kizashi moved past the gate with his family and guard in tow and began walking down the road that had long since been newly cobbled allowing for easier travel.

Once the family and its escort reached the retail area of the village, where most people spent their day, they were unsurprised to find the odd person giving them heated glares and looks of disgust, but as always the family blanked their attempts at isolating them and strode proudly towards the ninja academy. Ever since the Hokage had publicly announced his personal support of Narutos adoption and had expressly forbid any and all forms of abuse towards the family, the civilian populace had been reduced to nothing but heated glares and obvious, but controlled, distaste.

The academy grounds were filled with parents and children, the parents smiling proudly as their children entered the academy building working hard towards a successful ninja career. When the Haruno family walked through the gates and into the grounds, various people either completely blanked them or would mutter obscene insults towards them believing the family wouldn't hear them, of course being escorted by ninja and having had a small amount of training during their childhood, the adults of the family and their escorts could hear them as clear as day.

The family stopped somewhere near the center of the grounds and prepared to drop of Sakura. Kizashi and Karen turned towards their daughter and gave her a bright smile, hoping to lighten the mood as they were almost certain that their two children had heard some of the viler comments.

Kizashi bent down on his knee so that he was eye level with his daughter and placed a caring hand on her shoulder.

"well it won't be long now and you and your brother will be graduating from this place, I want you to know Sakura that I am very proud of you and what you've accomplished, I know that you will be one of the finest and most talented of kunoichi this village has ever seen, so work hard and know that I will always be proud of you"

Sakura smiled brightly at her father before throwing her arms around him, embracing him in a way that visualized just how much she truly loved her father and family.

"I will Tou-san, I love you"

Kizashi smiled at his daughter and brought her out of the hug, she smiled back and gave her mother a smile and a small hug before making her way into the academy.

Kizashi stood and turned towards one of the ninja guards they had been travelling with.

"make sure she gets into her classroom unharmed"

"yes Kizashi-sama"

The ninja disappeared in a swirl of leaves leaving only three guards to protect the family.

"now that that's sorted I believe it's time we paid a visit to Hokage-sama" Karen announced with a smile. Kizashi nodded in acknowledgement and the remainder of the group made their way back out onto the busy pathway.

The journey to the Hokage tower was quiet and uneventful for the family which was a nice and very much welcome change. When they arrived at the front door they made their way to the floor that held the Hokages office and approached the female receptionist at the desk in front of the office.

"we're here to see the Hokage, is he available?"

The receptionist, a young brunette of average appearance with black framed glasses and civilian clothing, looked up from her work and instantly turned sour face when her eyes landed on Naruto.

"I'm afraid the Hokage is extremely busy right now and doesn't have time for you… especially with _that_ here" she said the last part with a glare in Narutos direction.

In a flash one of the ninja guarding the family was behind the woman with a kunai to her throat, a visible angry scowl on his normally stoic face.

"you would do well to remember who you speak to ma'am, that happens to be the head of the Haruno clan in case you forgot and since Sakura-sama has voiced her disinterest in becoming clan head, blood or not, Naruto is the heir to the position of head of the clan, so remember your manners" the pressure on the kunai increased slightly as it dug into her neck.

"forgetting that might just be the end of you"

The woman was visibly shaking where she sat and was frozen in place, she did however manage a slight nod of the head careful not to accidentally cut herself on the kunai. The scowl on the ninjas face lessened slightly and the kunai was removed. Kizashi would have stepped in on the situation but he knew that it had to be done, just because people didn't like their clan didn't mean that they could be any less respectful towards his position and the position of his son. Blood or not clan laws dictated that even an adopted child within the clan heads family could hold the position of clan heir and he would be damned if anyone tried to belittle that position while he was head.

The ninja returned to his position besides Kizashi and the woman, still visibly frightened, stood and approached the office door. Opening it slightly and poking her head through, she informed the Hokage of the arrival of his guests and an unheard reply came back. Turning back towards the group she returned to her seat and nodded towards the door.

"the Hokage will see you now"

Kizashi nodded in thanks and made his way towards the door, telling his guards that they could wait outside as they were in no immediate threat whilst in the presence of their village leader. Before entering the room Naruto made his way over to the receptionist who looked at him with no small amount of fear and confusion. With a disarming smile Naruto produced a small tin from his orange jacket, even being adopted and his mother's constant nagging hadn't tempered his love of the colour, and placed it in front of her.

"it's a salve that my Kaa-san gives me whenever I hurt myself in training, it helps numb the pain and I'm afraid my guard left a slight mark on your neck, you have my apologies, my guard can go slightly over the top when it comes to protecting me, I hope it helps"

The woman reached out a hesitant hand towards her neck and indeed there was a slight scratch from the kunai, although small it did sting a little. Turning her head towards the boy she had been lead to hate for so long she gave a small nod of thanks before he entered the office.

' _he's nothing like what Tou-san said he was'_ she thought with confusion, she would have to do a little digging into the life of the blond demon carrier, it turned out he may not have been as bad as some people thought.

Within the office the family of three took their seats in front of the smiling Hokage, he loved getting visits from the Haruno's, it always made his day brighter. He had heard the commotion outside and had assumed that his receptionist had caused a situation when she had seen his favorite blond. He would have to have a word with her later.

"ah Kizashi-san, Karen-san, how may I help you today?"

Before the two could reply the old man noticed that his surrogate grandson had yet to make his usual grand appearance and voiced his concern.

"Naruto-kun, are you ok?"

Noticing the attention on him Naruto shifted slightly in discomfort, a very out of character action considering attention had always been one of the things he craved, sounding further alarm bells in the Hokages mind.

"I- err, I had a nightmare Jii-san and I don't know what it means"

The Hokage raised an eyebrow slightly, unsure as to why this was important enough to bring to his attention, never the less he would try to help his grandson in any way he could.

"a nightmare you say? Why don't you tell me what it was about and maybe I can help" he said with a friendly smile.

The young boy took a deep breath and with a look of encouragement from his parents he recounted his hellish dream.

"w-well, when it started I found myself in Konoha, but it was different"

"in what way?"

"w-well there were some buildings I'd never seen before, they looked new"

"ok, go on"

"at first it was peaceful but then it changed really quickly, there were these g-giant blue balls of light dropping from the sky and they destroyed where ever they touched, buildings kept falling over and whoever was hit by them was killed, I-I can s-still hear their s-screams"

His body seemed to be visibly shaking as the images flashed through his mind and the Hokage could see the fear in his eyes. When it looked like he couldn't continue his mother placed a gentle hand on his shoulder which seemed to bring him out of whatever fear induced state he had just been in.

"sorry Kaa-san"

"it's ok Naruto-kun, just take your time"

Taking another deep breath, he prepared himself to continue.

"the next thing I knew; I was standing in the idle of Konohas main street, the buildings were either collapsed or burning and the street was covered in corpses, some injured were still alive but only barely. I tried to get away but before I could, something grabbed my leg, when I looked down, it was you Jii-san, you were all beaten up and bloodied a-and I didn't know what to d-do"

The floodgates seemed to reopen at that point unleashing a downfall of tears and the Hokage was more worried about the state of the young boy than the fact that Naruto had dreamt of his demise.

"that is certainly a terrifying dream Naruto-kun, but I believe that is all it is, just a dream, so don't worry about it, if it happens again let me know, for now why don't you and your mother go out for the day, I will inform your teachers that you will be taking the day off today"

The thought of spending time with his mother seemed to calm him down and what was left of any possible tears had dried up, he looked to his mother with hope in his eyes and asked if it was ok.

"well I suppose it's fine for today, how about we go for some ramen?"

Nightmare forgotten the boy jumped to his feet pulling his mother along in a hurry, ecstatic about the thought of his favorite food.

"what are we waiting for let's go!"

His mother laughed in amusement and tried, unsuccessfully, to get him to slow down before he dragged two of the remaining guards along with him as well, who laughed slightly at his behavior.

Once the boy and his mother was gone and the door shut Kizashi turned towards his leader who had a look of worry hidden almost unnoticeably in his eyes.

"you don't think it was just a dream" it was more of a statement than a question and it was only further enforced when the Hokage gave a nod. Hiruzen brought one of his hands under his desk and seemed to be looking for something. A second later there was a flare of chakra and an intricate display of seals flashed blue throughout the rooms walls before disappearing again.

"Kizashi what I'm about to tell you does not leave this room am I understood?"

Noticing the underlying threat of 'speak a word of this and you'll regret it' Kizashi sat straight in his chair and gave his word that he would not utter a word. Seemingly satisfied with his word, Hiruzen began to recount an earlier encounter.

"almost a week ago, Jiraiya came to me with a report of a village within the Land of Rice being destroyed in an instant, he told me he'd over heard a group of farmers talking about the night it happened and reported seeing large balls of blue energy raining down on the village, completely destroying it in seconds"

Kizashi's eyes widened and his mouth hung agape, that report was all too similar to his sons dream and it sent a sense of dread throughout his body.

"were there any survivors?"

His sense of dread increased when the Hokage shook his head.

"what does this mean Hokage-sama, and what do you think Naruto has to do with this?"

The Hokage pulled his pipe from within his clothes and began filling it with his favorite tobacco before lighting it and taking on a thoughtful look.

"I believe that Naruto-kun may have had a premonition, I believe he for sore a future attack upon this village by the very same people who destroyed that village"

"b-but if that's true, surely we should prepare, premonition or not the thought of there being a weapon like that out in the world should be enough to bring the village up to full alert"

The Hokage took a drag from his pipe and released the smoke into the air, he pulled out a scroll from one of his draws and handed it to Kizashi who accepted it with a look of confusion.

"I am inclined to agree with you, at first I did not want to cause panic within the population but with Narutos dream I believe it is almost certain that at some point in the near future we will be attacked directly"

"within that scroll is a set of orders I created a few years ago in case of the event that the destruction of this village became a likelihood, you remember the conversation we had with Arata-san about his relationship to Narutos father and the teleporting device?"

Kizashi nodded in an affirmative, last year he had been called into the office alongside Arata and his wife while the children were at the academy, they had both been fully informed of Arata's relationship to Narutos real father and he was surprised to find out about the device in question, it was also a surprise when he found out that his wife had already known a small amount of the information for a while now, although she didn't know about the teleporting device.

"with the help of Jiraiya a small team of scientists have been working towards reducing the negative effects of its use and have managed to decrease the damage by up to 50%, with this in mind I've prepared those orders as a way to protect the villagers in the event of an attack that could put them in serious danger"

"what do they entail?"

"in the event of an attack that could put our normal way of defending the villagers out of use, a pair of clans are to be selected to escort the villages to the teleportation site and are to travel with them to the world on the other side where they will create an outpost and defend the villagers until further orders are received"

Kizashi looked startled at this, his clan was new and its shinobi population was still far less than its civilian one. To be charged with the protection of the civilian population when there were far more experienced and skilled clans around was just mind boggling and if he dares say so, insane.

"b-but Hokage-sama, my clan has few shinobi, we are mainly merchants and shop keepers not warriors"

The Hokage seemed to of expected this response and Kizashi could tell that he hadn't made the decision lightly by the look in his eyes.

"it is for that very reason that I have chosen you as one of the two clans, it is well known that your clan is one of, if not _the_ , most successful merchant clans in the village. It is those skills that would be of great benefit to the group sent through, you would have the skill and information necessary to create a stable economy on the other side, that added to your own political skills would be a great asset when dealing with the occupiers of the other world"

Understanding dawned on him as he suddenly understood his Hokages decision, his clan had always been the best at providing a stable economy for the leaf village and had helped it out of quite a few economic crises before, the people sent through the portal would need the skills necessary to thrive in the foreign world.

"I understand Hokage-sama, but if I may ask, who will be the other clan?"

"although intelligence has suggested that the people of this other world are friendly and haven't experienced any form of real war before, we can't know for sure how they will react to the sudden presence of a large group from another world with its own army, therefore, in order to defend the civilians from any sort of attack, I am providing not a clan, but a group of specifically selected ninja from all of the clans in Konoha to go with you, namely, the Hyuga, Aburame, Inuzuka, Nara, Yamanaka and Akimichi clans"

The full serious of the situation had never been more obvious as it did right then, the thought of leaving his home behind to potential destruction didn't sit well with him in the slightest, in fact it somewhat sickened him. But he knew he would have a duty to his people and he would do his best to provide his best efforts no matter what was expected of him.

"what will be my role in this?"

"you will act as the civilian in charge of diplomacy, public relations and the acquirement of a long term food source, I know it's a lot but I know I can trust you to do it"

"very well Hokage-sama, I will do my best, how long do you think it will be until this attack comes?"

The old man took a deep drag of his pipe before releasing its smoke into the air in thought. Years of experience in these matters flooding figuratively before his eyes.

"truthfully, I do not know if it may ever come, however I am not stupid enough to simply ignore what has been put in front of me, I will be working with the clan heads to arrange a defence of the village as well as choosing those who will be travelling through the gate, until then I suggest you make your own preparations, albeit quietly, for a quick move of your clan. For now, you may go, I have a lot to organize"

"of course Hokage-sama"

With a slight bow Kizashi stood from his seat and left the room to find the single remaining member of his guard waiting patiently for his arrival. With a nod from one to the other the pair prepared to go meet up with his wife and son.

 **With Sakura**

After leaving her parents and younger brother, Sakura had made her way through the academy and eventually found herself seated in her classroom between Hinata and Kiba, she never really spoke to the two, mainly because Hinata never really spoke and Kiba tended to try and dominate every conversation no matter it's subject, probably an Inuzuka thing, but still she felt comfortable with them, unlike the rest of the class, bar one or two, they didn't judge her or her family for their relationship with Naruto. The same couldn't be said for people like her once best friend Ino and her cold hearted ex-crush Sasuke, the pair would continuously belittle her clan and would try to publicly humiliate both her and her brother, although if she was honest it was more Ino than Sasuke who would mostly grunt in the way only an Uchiha really could.

The conversation in the room quickly died down as Iruka Umino, their long time Chunin teacher, walked to the front of his desk to address them.

"alright class listen up I have some news"

"in one weeks' time the academy will be hosting its Gennin graduation exam"

The classroom became a buzz of excitement as the hopes and dreams of its occupants was suddenly just within their grasp, multiple conversations started with most people, cough Kiba cough, bragging about how they would wipe the floor with the exam and come out on top.

Having let them have their minute of excitement Iruka called for quiet, when that didn't work, he channeled a small amount of chakra into his voice box before letting out a yell loud enough to gain instant silence.

" **that's enough!** "

When he was sure he had their attention he continued.

"as I was saying, you have a week to prepare the necessary jutsu for the exam, this year it will involve the **Kawarimi** , **Henge** and **Bunshin no jutsu** , in order to better prepare you for the exam, normal classes will be put on hold and practices will be available for those who wish to improve their skill in these specific jutsu"

Sakura beamed at the thought of finally being able to become a Gennin, ever since she had given up on her love sick infatuation with Sasuke she had worked twice as hard to better herself and soon she would be able to show it. it was then that the three types of jutsu being used finally hit her and a sudden feeling of dread filled her, it wasn't that she couldn't do the three jutsu, no she was quite efficient at their uses, it was Naruto she worried for, he had never been able to do a successful **Bunshin** before, mostly due to his large chakra capacity, he simply had too much to use for a technique that required so little especially with his not so great chakra control, although Arata had helped him improve it, it still wasn't enough to control such a small amount.

A sudden large amount of movement caught her attention and she noticed that most of the class was preparing to go towards one of the academy training grounds for practice, pushing her thoughts away figuring Naruto would find a way, because well, he was Naruto he always did, she prepared herself to follow before hearing an all too familiar, and if she had to admit, annoying voice behind her.

"so forehead where's Naruto-baka? finally realized he isn't up to scratch and dropped out before he could embarrass himself?"

Turning around she found herself face to face with the ever annoying Ino Yamanaka, her once best friend and ex love rival. It would seem that even though Sakura had given up on Sasuke, Ino just couldn't let old rivalries die, and so would try to find any reason necessary to pick a fight with her, verbally of course, after the last few sparing matches between the two it had become obvious that Sakura was by far the more talented fighter out of the two, although her standing in the class was around mid-rank taijutsu wise she could still pack a punch.

"actually Ino-pig, he's gone with our parents to meet with the Hokage, they have an important meeting and it is by far more worth his time than dealing with a talentless pig like you"

The not so subtle jab at her obvious short comings as a ninja was definitely noticed by the few stragglers still left in the room. Ino's face went red with rage and embarrassment before a new voice cut into the conversation.

"yeah right, what could the Hokage possibly want with a dead last like him?"

Turning to her right she noticed Sasuke Uchiha standing there with his ever present superior smirk that made her want to cave his face in, although she knew that even with her improvements she still wasn't quite on his level, him being at the top of the class in terms of practical skill.

"well Sasuke-baka as clan heir he is often expected to accompany our father to his meetings as a way to learn how to lead our clan, oh and don't call him dead last, we all know you haven't been able to beat him in a spar since he beat you three years ago and we also know that the only reason you're at the top of the class is because Naruto mainly uses taijutsu and so doesn't have that many ninjutsu"

Sasuke seemed to visibly fume at the reminder and looked to be preparing to attack her when there was a gust of wind and Sakura's Chunin guard appeared between the two.

"fighting within the academy is strictly forbidden Uchiha-san, if you wish to commence a spar I suggest you take It outside, although I must tell you that I will be informing Naruto-sama of your challenge if you do and I can assure you he won't be happy"

All the shinobi of the Haruno clan had known of Narutos continuous besting of the Uchiha and had found great pride in their clan heir at his accomplishment and this particular shinobi had no doubt that whatever Naruto did to Sasuke after he found out about him challenging his sister, would be ten times worse than any beating he received in a spar.

With a grunt of frustration Sasuke turned away from the pair and exited the room, followed closely by his overly large fan club with Ino glaring daggers at Sakura.

Sakura felt physical relief as the last of her aggressors left the room, she knew she couldn't take them all on and she also knew it probably wasn't the greatest of ideas to target Sasuke's pride like that, but dammit she hated how they treated Naruto!

"are you alright Sakura-sama?"

The sudden question brought her out of her daze and she looked to see her guard looking at her with a worried look.

"yes thank you, I appreciate your help"

"any time ma'am, I suggest you hurry along now, I believe your class has already arrived at the training grounds"

With a sudden yelp of realization Sakura sprinted out of the room leaving behind an amused Chunin who disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

The end of the day came around quicker for Sakura than expected and soon she was being escorted back to her home by her guard tired and mentally exhausted. Ino hadn't given up on trying to insult Sakura and if she was honest a few of her comments had left a mark on her pride.

Eventually the two made it to the gates of the clan compound and then to the front door of her family home.

"thank you for escorting me Chunin-san"

The Chunin bowed slightly to the young girl and smiled softly to her.

"it was my pleasure Sakura-sama, if I'm honest watching you put the Uchiha and that Yamanaka girl in their place was quite amusing"

"I'm glad the day wasn't a complete bore for you then, goodnight Chunin-san"

"goodnight Sakura-sama"

The two split off with Sakura heading inside and the Chunin making his way towards the compounds barracks to receive new orders or to turn in for the night. When she came through the door the smell of freshly cooked food wafted into her nose and a sigh a pleasure escaped her mouth. Making her way into the overly large kitchen Sakura found her mother slaving away over a pot of some sort of food with a happy smile on her face.

"I'm home Kaa-san"

Turning towards her daughter Karen was happy to see her finally safe and sound with the compound, she often worried about what the other villagers would do if they managed to catch her sweet daughter alone and in truth it frightened her constantly.

"hello sweetie, how was the academy today?"

Karen noticed an almost unnoticeable stiffen of Sakura's shoulders and could tell that it didn't go as well as she would of liked.

"Ino-pig and Sasuke-baka tried to pick on Naruto again even though he wasn't there" the almost venomous way she said their names was not lost on Karen as she approached her daughter, bringing her into a soft embrace that instantly took the stiffness away from Sakuras body as she relaxed into the hold.

"you shouldn't let their comments bother you, they both know that you and Naruto-kun could kick their butts if you wanted to and that will always be something you can hold over them"

Sakura released a tired sigh as she watched her mother go back to preparing that night's meal. Her stomach growling slightly in anticipation made her blush and her mother chuckle.

"by the looks of it you have more things to worry about than those two, dinner will be done soon so why don't you go get changed and then when your father and brother get home we can sit down for food"

It only dawned on her then that the two weren't present within the large home and she voiced it to her mother.

"where are they anyway Kaa-san?"

Karen placed her finger on her chin in thought, the thing that Kizashi had always found cute about her and seemed to be trying to recall something.

"I believe your father went with Naruto-kun to oversee his training with Arata-san, I believe he said something about wanting to witness his progress himself"

Sakura gave an ah in understanding and made her way towards her room on the second floor, intending to have a wash and change into a change of clothes ready for when dinner was ready.

 **With Naruto during training.**

Naruto was currently finishing off his training in the compounds training grounds with Arata with his father watching from the side of the field. His training tonight had been focusing on trying to obtain one of his abilities that go along with his **Warrior soul**. Arata had told him that in order to summon the first soul of three, he had to first master three of its abilities beforehand. The first ability was the summoning of the first warriors weapon of choice, in this case a sword and shield. He had been trying for hours now and had only been able to summon enough of the new power source, dubbed 'magic' in its scroll, to summon a few shards of metal from his hands that would fall lamely to the ground much to his frustration.

"focus Naruto, you have to feel the magic in your veins, you have to guide it, you can't force it to do what you want you have to give it a gentle push in the right direction until eventually you can do it without even thinking"

Naruto had listened to his sensei say the same thing over and over again for the last few hours and he could honestly say that he was getting a little annoyed… ok scratch that he was getting very annoyed!

"I'm trying Arata-sensei but no matter what I do my chakra keeps getting in the way!"

Arata took a thinking pose with one arm crossed and another one supporting his chin as he thought from where he sat across from Naruto.

"my father told me he had similar problems when he was being trained, he told of a way to get around it but I simply can't remember"

Another few moments went by before realization leapt through his body.

"that's it!"

Startled, Naruto and Kizashi watched as Arata sprang to his feet and approached Naruto who stood in his magic activation stance, legs placed one behind the other in a fighter's stance, arms held out as if he was holding a sword and shield. Arata began going thought various hand signs before slapping his hand on Narutos chest causing him to stumble back slightly with a wince. A bright blue light appeared on Narutos chest in the shape of the kanji for 'suppress' before disappearing again.

"hey what was the big idea Arata-sensei!"

A strange feeling suddenly spread through his body as a feeling of almost complete emptiness coursed through his veins. He could feel his chakra decrease to almost dangerous levels before it leveled out at just enough to keep him alive.

"the seal I just placed on you will decrease your chakra enough so that you will be kept alive but you will find it a lot easier to summon your magic, its only temporary lasting just long enough for you to learn how to separate and use the individual sources of power on your own"

Naruto was slightly confused by it but nodded all the same, he'd never been the academic type, even after his new sensei and adoption, so for now he would just trust that his sensei knew what he was doing and follow his instruction carefully.

"ok Naruto try again"

With a yell of determination Naruto retook his previous stance and started searching for the power source hidden away inside his body. Before he had the seal placed on him he had only been able to find a small trace of the power but now he could feel it coursing through him in large amounts. With a grin of excitement Naruto prepared to summon his ability.

" **Warrior soul: Templars Assault!** "

To the surprise of his onlookers Naruto was suddenly enveloped in a bright white light that covered his entire being before gathering at his hands. The light began to take shape and soon enough the light died down to reveal a kite shaped shield in his left hand and a dual edged broad sword in his right. The shield had a white background with the same red cross in its center that was found in the ancient scroll, its size seemed to of been altered to fit his size and strength, the sword also seemed to of been rather short compared to an adults' weapon, although it was still proportional in size, its pummel was round in a semi-circular shape and its hilt made the weapon look like a type of cross if you pointed the blade towards the ground, both hilt and pummel were gold whilst the grip was wrapped in a brown leather.

"holy Kami I did it!" Naruto shouted for joy before his sword arm was pulled down by the weight of the weapon.

"heavy!" he said with visible strain. He looked up as a pair of footsteps approached him from the side, his father and sensei looked at him in barely contained awe and pride if the giant wide eyed smiles were anything to go by.

"I did it Tou-san, I got my first ability!"

Kizashi could barely contain the pride he felt at his son's accomplishment and couldn't wait to tell his wife when they got home, although he knew that Naruto would want to be the one to tell her so he would stay quiet until then.

"congratulations Naruto-kun, I'm very proud of you"

Naruto beamed brightly at his father's compliment before a sudden pain ripped through his head coursing him to drop both shield and sword and collapse to his knee crying out in pain as he held his head in both hands.

"Naruto!"

Kizashi dropped to his son's side with a look of worry on his face whilst Arata looked on in thought. Soon the pain faded away and Naruto was able to think clearly again, to his surprise his mind was filled with a wealth of information pertaining to the use of the two items he had just summoned.

"whoa"

Arata knelt down in front of him and placed a hand on his shoulder with a questioning gaze.

"are you ok Naruto?"

Naruto suddenly saw the looks of worry on their faces and was quick to calm them down.

"oh I'm fine Arata-sensei, I just had a load of cool stuff appear in my head"

Kizashi seemed to be startled by the comment while Arata nodded his head in understanding.

"yes I thought as much, from what I've read in the scrolls when you first acquire your new weapons you are provided with enough information to cover the basics of their use, although it won't be enough to master their use its still enough to fight against most Gennin your age and some low level Chunin"

"awesome! Now I can really kick ass!"

Before Naruto could go too far into his celebration Arata pulled his attention back to him.

"don't celebrate too soon Naruto-kun, knowing how a weapon is used and actually using it are two completely different things, you'll have to work extra hard to get these basics to a usable level"

The idea of extra work didn't seem to dampen his spirits as Naruto smiled brightly, which in turn caused both his father and sensei to smile in amusement.

"that's ok Arata-sensei, I'll have them down in no time, believe it!"

Both men chuckled as all three stood from where they sat, Arata looked to the sky and noticed the sun dipping down on the horizon.

"ok Naruto that's it for today, send your sword and shield away and we'll call it a night"

Naruto nodded enthusiastically before his expression turned to confusion and then embarrassment. He rubbed the back of his head slightly with an embarrassed chuckle before voicing his confusion.

"umm Arata-sensei, how do I do that?"

"just cut off your flow of magic and they should return to their own dimension"

Naruto nodded in understanding and slowly began cutting off his magic from the ability, soon enough both sword and shield dissolved into bright yellow particles that disappeared into the air.

"cool" they all said in awe and unison.

All three chuckled before saying their goodbyes and heading home for the night. On the way home Kizashi suddenly remembered something one of his guards had told him and almost face palmed in embarrassment.

"oh Naruto-kun, I was talking to the guard that looked after Sakura today and he told me that the Gennin graduation exam was coming up, they made the announcement today"

Naruto stopped in his tracks in sudden panic as he turned towards his father in a flash.

"what! When!"

"calm down Naruto, it isn't for another week yet you have plenty of time"

Naruto let out a sigh of relief as he and his father continued their walk home.

"did they say what jutsu we'll be tested on?"

Kizashi suddenly remembered why the guard had gone straight to him and not Naruto himself, the guard had expressed his worry over the use of the **Bunshin** being used as part of the exam and had come to Kizashi to see if there was a way around it, unfortunately there wasn't and his pull with the Hokage could only go so far.

"they've chosen the **Kawarimi** , the **Henge** and the… **Bunshin no jutsu** "

The previous look of panic suddenly came back with a vengeance as Naruto began to visibly sweat.

"the **Bunshin**! But I can't do that jutsu!"

Kizashi placed a comforting hand on his sons' shoulder in a poor attempt to calm him down, safe to say it didn't work.

"I know son but don't worry, I promise you I'll try to think of something to help before your exam"

"b-but Tou-san, the teachers don't even like me! There's no way they'll make an exception for me of all people!"

The sudden reminder of his sons' relationship with the other villagers and a portion of the shinobi population brought a great sadness to Kizashi, he just couldn't understand why they couldn't see the difference between his beloved son and the monstrosity that is the Kyuubi.

"we'll figure something out son"

His son seemed to sink into a deep depression as they walked through the almost empty streets of the compound.

"I hope so Tou-san, I really do"

Seeing his son in such a state brought about a fiery determination within Kizashi and right there and then he promised himself and his son that he would do all within his power to make his son a ninja like he deserved. With that determination running through his veins, Kizashi walked his son home quickly so that he could get to work sooner rather than later.

' _don't you worry son; I'll make you a god damn ninja if it's the last thing I do!'_

 **Six days later, day before exam.**

Kizashi walked home with a look of worry on his face, for the last six days he'd tried to pull every string he could to get the **Bunshin no jutsu** removed from the exam but all attempts led to failure. Finally, after much thought, he'd gone to the Hokage in hopes of convincing the old man to help him. After a long conversation Kizashi wasn't sure if he should be happy or not with the compromise that had been agreed upon.

 _Flashback_

 _Kizashi made his way up to the front desk outside the Hokages office with both his Chunin guards and requested to be seen, he was surprised to see the receptionist from the last time he was here do so without a hassle and had even apologized for her behavior the last time they met. Putting it down to Naruto not being present Kizashi pushed it out of his mind and entered the office, once again leaving his guards behind._

 _Within the office the Hokage was busy rejecting yet another request form from the civilian council to have Narutos adoption nullified when his receptionist announced the arrival of the Haruno clan head himself. Happy for some sort of distraction from very Kages worst enemy, being paperwork, he accepted the audience with a smile. The smile faded slightly when he saw the worried look on his friends face as he entered the office. He knew immediately that this wasn't a social visit and so prepared himself for a rather serious conversation._

" _Kizashi-san what a pleasant surprise, how can I help you today?"_

 _Kizashi sat down in front of the desk and tried his best not to look like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders, which behind closed doors he would probably say he has considering he had his sons' whole future resting on this meeting._

" _it's good to see you too Hokage-sama, but I'm afraid I come before you with a situation regarding my son"_

 _This instantly had the old man's attention and he made sure he listened carefully to everything the worried father said._

" _what is the problem?"_

" _well Hokage-sama it has to do with the upcoming graduation exam, I'm afraid we have a rather unique problem with what's required for my son to pass"_

 _Sudden realization dawned on the old man as he remembered the letter he had read earlier about this year's requirements and just who they were dealing with._

" _you're worried about Naruto failing the_ _ **Bunshin no jutsu**_ _"_

" _yes sir, I was hoping you would be able to make an exception for my son considering his, erm, condition"_

 _The Hokage looked suddenly very regretful as he gave his answer,_

" _I'm sorry my friend, but the requirements have already been agreed upon by the shinobi council and only a combined vote can change them, even for an individual"_

 _Kizashi slouched in his chair as a feeling of failure washed over him, how would he tell his son that he had failed him? He knew that even though most of the larger clan heads supported his son, some of the lower ones would make life difficult._

" _then my son is doomed to fail"_

 _The Hokage looked on in sorrow as his friend prepared himself for what was to come. He was about to apologies when a sheet of paper on his desk caught his attention, picking it up he read through it once as a plan started to form in his mind._

 _Looking up from the letter he looked at Kizashi with a great deal of mischievous that almost reminded him of the look Naruto would give whenever he plotted one of his pranks._

" _maybe there is a way"_

" _what do you mean Hokage-sama?"_

 _With a movement of his hands the office privacy seals were activated and the old man looked like a man on a mission._

" _three days ago I received information that a team of Anbu had intercepted a message between one of the academy teachers and the village traitor, Orochimaru"_

 _Kizashi was surprised at the revelation, being in contact with a man like Orochimaru could only mean one thing._

" _whoever this teacher is must be in league with the traitor"_

" _indeed, the message carried on offer that promised protection and power to the teacher if they could get their hands on the Scroll of Sealing and successfully bring it back to Orochimaru's hidden base"_

" _how do they intend on getting the scroll?"_

" _we believe he may use his position as an academy teacher to his advantage and try to manipulate one of the failed students after the exam, we believe he will trick them into believing it'll be some sort of second chance"_

 _Kizashi nodded in understanding. It certainly made sense, no one would think twice about an academy student being In the Hokage tower, classes go there all the time for tours and lessons._

" _who is the teacher? And how does this help Naruto?"_

" _his name is Mizuki and I believe we can use Naruto's failure in the exam as a way to lure Mizuki into trying to use Naruto as part of his plan, I believe that when Naruto is eventually betrayed by Mizuki he will use his new found abilities to fight the man off, I will have a team of Anbu standing by to step in but either way I will inform the shinobi council that it was a mission set up by myself and will declare a field promotion to Gennin for Naruto"_

" _that sounds all well and good but Naruto has barely had a few days' practice with his new weapons, that and being a Chunin surely he would be able to overpower Naruto rather quickly?"_

" _that's what the Anbu are for, if it looks as if Naruto's life is in danger they will step in and apprehend Mizuki before he can cause him any harm, whether he wins or loses Naruto still gets his promotion"_

 _Kizashi had to think hard over the possible disadvantages of such a plan but soon realized that this was his sons one and only chance at achieving his current dream, other than being Hokage that is._

 _With a nod of approval, the Hokage set about putting his plan into motion._

 _Flashback end._

The plan was dangerous and some might even say irresponsible, but Kizashi had promised his son a promotion and by kami he would get it. With that thought in mind Kizashi made his way home to set his part of the plan in motion.

 **Next day, academy room.**

"alright listen up, the exam starts today. First we're going outside to examine your throwing abilities and there will also be a short spar with an academy teacher, so if you can make your way outside that'll be great"

The Gennin wannabe's made their way out into the training grounds behind the academy where a small range had been set up, it consisted of three large logs with a painted target with each log being further away than the other, the furthest being thirty yards away and the closest being ten.

Iruka and his assistant Mizuki lined the class up in a single line with the clan students at the front and the civilians at the back.

"alright here's how it's gonna go, each of these logs has a painted target, a dead center hit on the first one is worth ten points, the second log is twenty and the third is thirty, if you hit outside the center mark its worth half of what the center is, the pass mark is between fifty and ninety" Iruka pointed out the distance markers that sat beside each log and the starting line before preparing the first student.

"alright, Shino Aburame, you're up first"

The ever stoic Aburame took his place at the starting line and produced three kunai. Letting all three go at once the Kunai shot through the air at impressive speed before striking the second post.

"alright well done Shino that's three dead centers giving you sixty points, please go wait at the back until we finish the rest of the group"

With a respectful bow the young bug user approached the back of the group and waited. The group continued with their individual turns with each of the clan heirs getting around fifty to seventy points, Naruto was ecstatic when Sakura managed to score higher than Ino getting a good seventy while Ino only got a close sixty, he was brought out of his sense of family pride when he realized that his turn would be coming up soon.

"alright Tenten well done you have the highest score so far with eighty, congratulations, ok next up is Sasuke Uchiha"

The arrogant as ever Uchiha made his way over to the starting line before glancing back towards Naruto and Sakura who were standing together waiting for Narutos turn.

"watch how a real ninja does it dobe"

With a flick of his wrist three Kunai sailed through the air towards the third target, quicker than you could blink three thuds could be heard and the people around them gasped in surprise, shortly followed by the screams of Sasuke's fan girls.

"well done Sasuke, ninety points all dead center the best score so far, alright Naruto Uzumaki-Haruno, your next"

Naruto made his way to the line with a few encouraging words from his sister, on his way past the smirking Uchiha he could just hear something under his breath.

"go back to where you belong street urchin"

Naruto whirled round to face the Uchiha but he was already standing amongst his fan girls who hovered around him protectively, with a grunt of annoyance Naruto continued towards the starting line more determined than ever to prove himself.

"alright Naruto you know the rules, begin when ready"

Iruka was surprised by the look of determination in Narutos eyes and put it down to wanting to prove himself to his fellow clan heirs.

' _he's come a long way these past few years, but he still has a long way to go'_ he thought with pride.

Naruto took his position and produced the kunai he kept in his pouch, with practice movement he let the kunai fly, accidently channeling some of his magic into it first, going unnoticed by himself and those around him. Iruka's eyes widened when he couldn't keep track of the weapons flight path and widened even more when they hit their target. The training grounds were silent as even the birds stopped their songs, the students and two teachers looked on in barely disguised awe as they examined the third log.

Each kunai had hit dead center on the log but didn't stop there, they travelled through the giant log and through several of the other trees that stood behind it before coming to a stop after hitting a boulder.

With a cry of achievement Naruto leapt around in joyous celebration as Iruka marked down his score, the pride rolling off the teachers shoulders whilst in contrast the hate overflowed from the Uchiha fan club and the Uchiha himself.

"wow Naruto that was pretty amazing, ninety points puts you on par with Sasuke but I have to say that yours was by far more impressive and you didn't even use chakra!"

"thanks Iruka-sensei!"

Still oblivious to his use of magic Naruto rejoined his sister who congratulated him profusely before watching as the civilians took their turn. Half an hour later the group was now stood around a large white circle on the ground whilst they waited for the teacher to explain the next part.

"alright this next part will be a spar between yourselves and Chunin Mizuki, in order to pass you have to last at least fifteen seconds against him, after twenty-five seconds the time will be called and the match will stop, be advised though, if you do not last at least fifteen seconds, one point will be subtracted from your previous score for every second under the minimum mark"

Various gulps of nervousness sounded throughout the group as the first combatant, being Shino again, took his position. The matches were quick and difficult even for the clan heirs who had been trained by their clans in various fighting styles, so far everyone had gone past fifteen seconds but no one had done a full twenty-five. When Sasuke had managed to last twenty-three seconds, the longest so far, he was confident that Naruto couldn't beat him, completely forgetting that when it came to taijutsu, Naruto was his better.

"alright Naruto let's see if you can wow us again" Iruka smiled, he knew that Naruto was the best by far at Taijutsu in his group, even the proclaimed Uchiha prodigy hadn't beaten him in years.

Naruto stood across from Mizuki in the same stance he'd become accustomed to ever since his fight with Sasuke all those years ago. He stared across at Mizuki who stood in a standard taijutsu stance, Naruto wasn't sure what it was but he could feel something off about the academy teacher, there was almost a type of sadistic glee hidden behind his stoic eyes.

With a call of 'begin' both combatants charged forward with the goal of ending the fight quickly, Naruto knew he wasn't talented enough to beat someone of Chunin level but he really wanted a way to permanently remind Sasuke that he was better than him, it might sound selfish to most people but when you finally have the opportunity to best someone who had mocked your abilities for years, well he was pretty sure he could be forgiven for being selfish, and slightly arrogant, just once.

When the two combatants reached the center Naruto used his shorter size to his advantage by getting under the Chunin's guard and going for a harsh strike to the man's abdomen. Mizuki saw the strike and quickly maneuvered himself around the attack before sending a palm strike to the young boys left shoulder, Naruto wasn't quick enough to dodge and was sent skidding across the ring, just barely keeping himself inside.

"your quick kid I'll give you that, but your nowhere near strong enough to take me down"

The jab at his abilities only proved to stoke the fires of Narutos determination and with new found strength managed to push himself straight into the man's chest with a shoulder barge, knocking the surprised man off balance and vulnerable to attack, taking advantage Naruto spun around on his heel and delivered a spinning kick to the older man's side. Mizuki just managed to block in time but grunted under the surprising strength behind the kick. Stuck coming out of his spin Narutos eyes widened when Mizuki sent an overpowered punch towards his head, unable to block or move Naruto closed his eyes and waited for the blow, just inches before contact a whistle was blown and the fist instantly stopped in mid-air. Opening his eyes Naruto stumbled back in surprise at just how close the fist had come to connecting, when Mizuki drew back his fist and began walking back to the other side of the ring, Naruto felt slight fear when he saw the obvious look of disappointment in the man's eyes. The fear was quickly forgotten as he realized what the whistle meant and turned towards his teacher in surprise.

"well done Naruto you did it again, you managed to go the full twenty-five seconds, congratulations"

Breathing heavily Naruto smiled brightly at his teacher, he walked back to stand by his sister again, completely ignoring the death glares and snarky comments coming from the, you guessed it, Uchiha fan club. Naruto was ecstatic when none of the other students managed to get anywhere near his time and more than a few had points taken away.

When the final whistle blew the group of students were lead back into the classroom where they retook their seats and awaited the next and final part of their exam, the only part that Naruto was truly worried about.

"well class I have to admit that this year's exam has been one of the more interesting ones, but it isn't over yet, one by one I will call you into a separate room where you will be tested on the three different jutsus mentioned at the start of the week, if you pass you'll walk back in here proudly displaying this villages headband, if you fail you'll be kept back a year to help improve your skills ready for next year's exam"

Anticipation, nerves and in some cases, arrogance filled the room as the students waited patiently for their turn. One by one they were called out with many coming back with wide smiles on their faces as they displayed the headband they'd worked so hard for; others came back in sorrow as their chance at making a name for themselves was delayed further. Naruto, despite his worry, was proud beyond belief when his sister walked in with her headband around her forehead and had congratulated her continuously on a job well done.

When it came down to his turn Naruto made his way nervously towards the room adjacent from the one he was in, he tried his best to hide his nerves behind his usual mask of excitement but a few cracks had begun to show through.

When he entered the room he saw his two teachers sat behind a desk with various headbands sitting in place, ready to be given out to those who deserved them. With a deep breath he readied himself. Iruka had known Naruto for a long time, he'd known all his students for a long time, but Naruto was special, he shared a special kinship with the boy after he'd gotten over his initial misguided views over his identity as the demon fox. Being so close to him he noticed with ease the nervousness behind the boy's mask, he too was nervous, he knew that Naruto struggled with the **Bunshin** and couldn't help but worry about how the test would go.

"ok Naruto, you know the drill, I want all three jutsu's used and you have to be able to do all of them in order to pass, you may go in any order you wish and begin when ready"

"ok Iruka-sensei"

Going through the necessary hand signs Naruto prepared for his first jutsu.

" **Kawarimi!** "

A puff of smoke and Naruto was no longer stood before them, instead he sat where Mizuki was before whilst Mizuki stood in the boy's previous position.

"well done Naruto, retake your position and prepare for your next jutsu"

Switching places with Mizuki, Naruto prepared for his next jutsu.

" **Henge!** "

Another puff of smoke revealed Naruto's father Kizashi, stood in his usual attire and a friendly look on his face.

"well done Naruto, a perfect transformation, now you only have the **Bunshin** to do"

Coming out of the jutsu Naruto gulped nervously as he prepared for his worse jutsu, this was the thing he was dreading the most.

" **Bunshin no jutsu!** "

A third puff of smoke appeared beside Naruto and the people in the room waited on the edge. The smoke cleared to reveal a sickly pale humanoid form that seemed boneless as it drooped on the floor.

Naruto's face went as pale as his clone as he witnessed his failed jutsu that disappeared in smoke.

"I-I thought I had it this time" he muttered softly to himself.

"I'm sorry Naruto, I really am, but unless you can produce one solid clone I'm afraid I have no choice but to fail you"

Iruka watched as Naruto slumped towards the door on his way out, his head bowed and the tears only being held back slightly. It broke his heart to fail the boy but rules are rules, no exceptions.

"come on Iruka, the kid did the best out of everyone in the other tests, surely we can make an exception just this once"

Iruka shook his head sorrowfully as he prepared for the next student.

"no, rules are rules, if he can't produce a clone then he isn't ready for field work"

Iruka saw Mizuki nod in understanding but didn't notice the smirk that crossed his face, if he had, he might have suspected some form of ulterior motive behind the man's sudden interest in the boy.

Naruto left the academy building and headed straight for the swing he was used to using. He tried desperately to hold back the tears but couldn't help the couple that escaped.

' _why do I always screw up when it matters'_ was just one of his many thoughts, he'd trained so hard to pass the exam and he felt for sure that he'd pass this time, he knew his father's promise wouldn't mean anything, his father could only do so much as a civilian after all.

As he sat on the swing he watched as many of his classmates walked out of the academy towards their parents smiling happily, their headbands gleaming in the sun. a voice brought him out of his staring as his watched his sister calling him as she walked over. When she finally stopped before him she crouched down so that she was eye level with his sitting form.

"Naruto are you ok?" she asked worriedly.

His reply was barely a whisper and she had to ask him to speak up in order to hear him.

"I-I couldn't d-do it, I failed"

Great sorrow filled his eyes and the pain she saw brought tears to her eyes, suddenly her own success felt so empty without her brother standing beside her.

"I'm sorry Naruto, I truly am" she wrapped her arms around his slightly shorter figure and embraced him with a much love as she could muster. She couldn't hear it but she could feel his sobs, his tears soaking her clothes as they spilled from his eyes, she joined in his sorrow, letting a few of her own tears spill.

"I-If you don't mind Sakura, I'd like to b-be left alone"

She pulled back slightly to look at him and she could see that there was nothing she could do for him, with a sad nod and a promise to see him at home she stood up and began walking away to where their guards were waiting, she informed them of Narutos condition and they respected his need for privacy as they escorted the young girl home.

Now all alone Naruto couldn't help but think of the unfairness of it all. He who had struggled and fought for what he had, had failed whilst those who had things given to them walked away in success.

He was about to go for a walk around the village when a new voice made him look up from his seat. His teacher Mizuki stood before him with a sad smile on his face, looking down on the boy in pity.

"how are you Naruto?"

Naruto wiped his eyes with his sleeve to remove any remnants of crying as he looked back up to his teacher.

"not so good Mizuki-sensei"

In a well-acted gesture Mizuki sat down on the swing next to Narutos with a sigh as he placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"it's a tough break kid, but sometimes these things happen"

Naruto only seemed to sink deeper into his depression as Mizuki mentally smirked.

' _and now to reel him in'_

"b-but why did it have to happen to me? I worked so hard for this and I have nothing to show for it"

' _bingo'_ the Chunin thought with glee.

"well… there is one way you could get what you want"

Naruto instantly turned towards the man in surprise and his eyes practically begged for another way.

"what?! What is it Mizuki-sensei?!"

Mizuki could barely contain his sadistic joy as he pulled Naruto further and further into his trap.

' _so predictable'_

"well I really shouldn't tell you this, it really is only for the best students"

"I am one of the best! I got the best scores out of everybody!"

Mizuki placed a finger on his chin in a false image of hard thinking, he couldn't believe how easy this was.

"well alright then, I suppose your right"

Naruto shifted into a more comfortable position as he waited for what could be his only chance at following his classmates into a ninja career.

"in the event that a student fails his jutsu exam, but shows promise in all the other aspects of being a ninja, they are given a secret test that allows them the opportunity to start their careers alongside their year group"

"w-what do I have to do"

' _honestly I should get award for my acting skills'_ the Chunin thought with a mental chuckle.

"first you have to locate a hidden scroll within the Hokage's office, once you've located it you have to bring it, undetected, to a location picked out by your accessor, once you get it, you have to learn at least one jutsu from the scroll by the time you're caught, if you manage it your instantly rewarded with a promotion to Gennin"

Now on a normal day Naruto would have found such a test to be slightly suspicious, but today wasn't a normal day, his career as a ninja was at stake and he'd do anything to be a ninja.

"alright Mizuki-sensei, I'll do it" was his determined reply.

Naruto completely missed the evil glint in the man's eyes as the Chunin gave him the location to bring the scroll to.

' _only a few more hours and I'll have what I need'_

 **Later that night, forest of Konoha**

Naruto breathed heavily as he pulled the large scroll into the clearing. It hadn't been as hard as he thought it might have when he went to get the scroll, the Anbu guard seemed to be rather relaxed tonight and almost seemed to be making a path for him as he moved, strange, but he had other things to worry about. Dragging the scroll with him he leant up against an abandoned outhouse in the middle of the clearing as he attempted to catch his breathe.

"alright that was easy, now I just need to learn a jutsu and I can finally become a ninja!"

Rolling the scroll out before him Naruto read through the different jutsu's available for him to learn.

"these look hard, what's this? **Kage Bunshin no jutsu**? No way I hate **Bunshin** jutsu's!"

Completely skipping the jutsu Naruto looked at the one just next to it and it immediately caught his eye.

" **Summoning Rebirth jutsu**? Never heard of that before"

Reading through the description Naruto found himself liking the idea of this jutsu more and more.

"using this jutsu allows the user to revive one of the long lost summoning contracts of times forgotten, this jutsu has never been successfully used before due to its large chakra requirement causing permanent damage to its user, cool! I have loads of chakra!"

His excitement taking the better of him, Naruto studied the required hand signs with glee, if he could get a legendary summon, he'd be the talk of the academy! Maybe even the whole village!

Following the hand signs carefully Naruto channeled as much chakra as he could into his hands as he called out his jutsu.

" **Summoning Rebirth jutsu!** " slapping his hands on the ground in front of him Naruto watched in excitement and slight exhaustion as a cloud of smoke suddenly filled the clearing. Coughing the smoke away from his lungs Naruto searched for whatever creature he may have summoned. When the smoke cleared he was surprised to find a small creature that seemed to be some sort of cross between some form of scaled animal and a baby rhino… with teeth. Its body was dark blue and sloped from its head down to its fin like tail, large armored scales followed its spine from its head to just before its tail where they started to get smaller until they ended at the strange fin like appendages tip. Its sides were covered in smaller scales that looked more like skin than scale from a distance. Its large predatory teeth stuck out from both its top and bottom jaw giving it a fierce look, its underbody was covered in large segmented and grey scales that protected it from harm. To top of the look the creature had black reptilian ayes and a large brownish horn coming from its nose, its powerful legs ended in lion like blue paws with black claws.

The creatures head stood a foot higher than Narutos and if he had to guess it was probably only a baby, if the strange high pitch growls were anything to go by. As if suddenly realizing that it wasn't where it should be the creature turned its massive head towards Naruto and seemed to be almost startled by his appearance. With what sounded like a panicked call it tried to move away from Naruto whilst keeping him in its sights.

Realizing he was probably scaring it, Naruto put his hands up in a non-threatening way to try and appease the creature, if he was being honest with himself he'd admit that he was probably just as scared as the creature in front of him. The animal cocked its head to the side while it observed the human's behavior, searching for any indication of a trap.

"hey there fella, I'm not here to hurt ya, I brought you here" he tried to keep his voice calm but he couldn't help but feel a little vulnerable facing down such a fierce creature, even if it was possibly only a child.

The creature seemed to belief he wasn't here to harm it, that or it wasn't mature enough to know when to be careful around strange two legged creatures and made its way cautiously over to the boy. It brought its head down to Narutos chest and seemed to take a deep whiff of his scent before letting out what Naruto assumed to be a happy purr like noise. Taking it as a sign of good faith Naruto brought one of his hands up to place it on the creature's large snout.

Its scales were rough under his hands and now that he was close to it, it kind of smelt like salt water. Finding the smell to be strangely pleasant Naruto walked around the creature running his small hands over its body as he examined the pure muscle hidden behind its scales, only visible through small gaps.

The creature turned its head to follow Narutos movements and seemed to purr louder whenever he stroked certain spots.

"your pretty cool"

The creature seemed to understand the compliment as it circled around him rubbing its large head against his body careful not to impale him with its horn whilst unknowingly knocking him off balance slightly.

Naruto laughed joyously as he spent the next half hour getting to know the creature, it seemed friendly enough and never once showed any signs of aggression towards him.

Eventually the strange beast seemed to tire as it laid against the side of the outhouse resting its head on its giant paws. Equally exhausted Naruto rested against its side, all he had to do now was wait for Mizuki-sensei and everything would be ok. Five minutes went by before the creature beneath him shot its head up and seemed to search the clearing taking deep breathes of air through its nostrils. It seemed to find what it was looking for as it encircled its tail around Naruto in a protective embrace and growled lowly towards the side of the clearing.

Naruto prepared himself for a fight when from the bushes and trees Iruka appeared seeming out of breath and in a panic. Eventually Iruka seemed to spot Naruto as he stomped over to the boy in what seemed like anger.

"Naruto! What the hell have you done this… time…" he seemed to realize that Naruto wasn't alone as he eyed the creature growling threateningly towards him. All skin color seemed to disappear as Iruka stood frozen to the spot.

"umm, Naruto, wh-who's your friend?" The creature seemed to growl louder as Iruka spoke which just put the man more on edge. Naruto seemed to realize the tension between his teacher and new found friend and rested a calming hand on the creature's snout.

"it's ok this is my sensei; he won't hurt us"

This seemed to appease it as it laid its head back on its paws, but kept an eye on him all the same.

"hey Iruka-sensei, this is my new summon! Cool huh!"

Iruka appeared to snap out of whatever daze he was in as he dragged his eyes away from the potentially dangerous creature to his favorite student.

"n-new summon, how'd you get that?"

"well Mizuki-sensei said that I needed to learn a jutsu from the scroll before I could get promoted, so I learnt this one, it's called **Summoning Rebirth jutsu** it takes a lot chakra so I'm a little exhausted haha"

Suddenly Iruka remembered why he was here and was about to question the boy further when he was cut short by a fuma shuriken appearing from the tree line on its way towards Naruto.

"Naruto!"

His shout caused Naruto to jump in alarm before he noticed the high speed projectile heading towards him. Shouting in alarm he brought his arms up in a poor attempt to defend himself. Expecting to be ripped in two Naruto tensed, what he wasn't expecting was a loud roar from his side before the sound of metal bouncing of a hard surface rung throughout the clearing. Opening his eyes Naruto was surprised to see hard, now shining scales covering his vision. Stepping back the shiny blue scales were revealed to be his new friend, its head ducked in a menacing way as it growled lowly towards the other side of the clearing. Looking around he saw the fuma shuriken that was previously headed towards him, buried deep within the earth a few feet away.

"what the hell is that thing!?"

Naruto and Iruka looked up to see Mizuki standing there on a tree branch with his hand resting on a second fuma on his back. His eyes were wide in shock as he stared at the terrifying beast protecting his target.

"Mizuki what the hell are you doing!?"

Mizuki snapped his attention over to his fellow teacher and suddenly all his fear was forgotten. Iruka watched as Mizuki smiled manically towards him as he brought his second shuriken from behind his back.

"why, don't you know? I'm saving the village from the nine-tails!"

Iruka's eyes widened in shock as he watched Mizuki jump down from his position in the tree to land a short way in front of Naruto.

"hey Naruto, want to know a secret?"

Naruto stepped slightly from behind his friend as he looked at Mizuki with a questioning gaze.

"what secret? What's going on?"

When Mizuki's smile widened further Iruka realized what he meant and was soon to try and prevent what could be a disaster.

"no Mizuki don't! its forbidden!"

Mizuki blanked him as his manic smile turned to an angry scowl.

"do you want to know why the village hates you Naruto? Do you want to know why they detest you and wish nothing more than your death?"

Images of angry glares and hurtful comments flashed through Narutos mind as he remembered all the abuse he'd suffered over the years.

"w-what are you talking about?! Why do they hate me!?"

Iruka was panicking, if Naruto found out about the Kyuubi, there's no telling what could happen, the seal could weaken and the beast could be set free! He couldn't allow it!

"Mizuki I'm warning you! Keep quiet!"

Mizuki snorted in response before gesturing towards Iruka with his free hand.

"you see Naruto, your dear sensei even knows, he's kept it from you for years!"

"kept what from me for years!? What are you talking about!?"

Mizuki laughed utter triumph as he prepared to bring the child's world crashing around him.

"you've heard of the nine-tailed fox haven't you? The creature that killed hundreds and destroy half the village? You and your generation were told for years by the higher ups in the village that it was killed by the fourth Hokage, but that was all lies, a lie created by the third to keep you from turning against the village"

Iruka in a desperate bid to silence his old friend now turned traitor, threw one of his kunai towards him while he was distracted. Mizuki saw the pitiful attempt and adjusted his body so that the kunai past by him.

"tut tut Iruka, you don't really think I'd be that easy to take down do you? now be a good boy and stay silent"

Iruka cursed silently under his breath, trying to find a way to keep the man quiet whilst keeping Naruto out of danger.

"b-but why would I turn against the village? What is the truth?" Narutos voice croaked slightly as tears built up in the corners of his eyes, if he could find out why he was hated, maybe he could do something about it?

"the truth is that the fourth never killed the Kyuubi, no one could kill the Kyuubi! So he sealed it within a little orphan boy, taking away half its power and sealing its soul away into a humanoid form, that child was you Naruto! You are the Kyuubi no Kitsune! You are the nine-tailed fox!"

Narutos breath hitched in his throat as he stared wide eyed at his former teacher, the memories of all the abuse and pain suddenly making sense.

"but you won't hurt anyone ever again! I'll kill you and become the hero of the leaf!"

Naruto didn't hear his rambling as he stared at the ground, his body trembling whilst a river of tears slid down his face.

"Now die!"

"Naruto!"

 **A/N: and there's that chapter, I hope you enjoyed it I know I certainly enjoyed writing it, please remember to leave a review, I live for them as they help me improve in my writing, also don't hate me because of the cliff hanger aha, I couldn't resist :D also because I'm not sure if you can actually see the photos on my account, I'm going to leave a link below to see them for yourselves, I don't own the images they are just borrowed so thankyou to whoever created them, they've been a big help :)**

 **Naruto's first warrior form: . /search?q=knights+templar &biw=1242&bih=585&tbm=isch&imgil=CIdOFX4eH3Em_M%253A%253B7FaYGb5AeQiyBM%253Bhttp%25253A%25252F% %25252FThe%2525252520Knights% &source=iu&pf=m&fir=CIdOFX4eH3Em_M%253A%252C7FaYGb5AeQiyBM%252C_&usg=_ru1IOR7ssC1fDldWCXIDxia0sBE%3D&ved=0ahUKEwi7wNSKguTNAhXLuhoKHXQGBEUQyjcIPg&ei=ZbB_V_v5D8v1avSMkKgE#imgrc=oEATIse_vCXJ-M%3A**

 **Narutos second warrior form:**

 **. /search?sa=G &hl=en-GB&q=barbarian+diablo&tbm=isch&tbs=simg:CAQSlQEJDXq7k6NkskQaiQELEKjU2AQaAggADAsQsIynCBpiCmAIAxIo7RbrFu4W7BaoFccWyBb3F48Xlxm7LLcthDqfP-0pvCyFLpM49i26LBowQnsGPPH3ajaeTHHdBRv9V8t-NBNKwYOvQrawJLIP-ecmsqDITmBcYEbS3loSbJdwIAMMCxCOrv4IGgoKCAgBEgSQ8jSIDA&ved=0ahUKEwjXwt_xguTNAhXI0xoKHXq6B5YQwg4IGygA&biw=1242&bih=585**

 **Narutos new summon as an adult:**

 **. /search?sa=G &hl=en-GB&q=barbarian+diablo&tbm=isch&tbs=simg:CAQSlQEJDXq7k6NkskQaiQELEKjU2AQaAggADAsQsIynCBpiCmAIAxIo7RbrFu4W7BaoFccWyBb3F48Xlxm7LLcthDqfP-0pvCyFLpM49i26LBowQnsGPPH3ajaeTHHdBRv9V8t-NBNKwYOvQrawJLIP-ecmsqDITmBcYEbS3loSbJdwIAMMCxCOrv4IGgoKCAgBEgSQ8jSIDA&ved=0ahUKEwjXwt_xguTNAhXI0xoKHXq6B5YQwg4IGygA&biw=1242&bih=585#hl=en-GB&tbm=isch&q=dragon+drake&imgrc=pyEY-_qPOCR8cM%3A**


End file.
